Jennings cited for alleged eye-gouging incident

LEINSTER back row Shane Jennings has been cited for “contact with the eye/eye area” of opponent Nick Kennedy in his side’s defeat last Friday at the hands of London Irish in the RDS – but the Premiership side’s captain, Bob Casey, has weakened the case against Jennings, admitting yesterday that Kennedy “overreacted” to the incident.

The Leinster number seven will appear before an independent disciplinary committee as a result of the citing lodged by the Citing Commissioner for the match, Richard McGhee of Scotland.

The citing refers to alleged contact with the eye/eye area of London Irish second row Kennedy in the first half of last Friday night’s game, but Kennedy’s team-mate Bob Casey weakened the case against Jennings considerably in his newspaper column yesterday, where he wrote that his fellow lock had overreacted to the encounter with the Leinster player.

“There was no quarter asked or given,” wrote Casey, himself a former Leinster player. “I spoke to Nick Kennedy after the match about the incident involving himself and Shane Jennings and he admitted he had overreacted.”

Jennings’ citing is the latest in a series of high-profile gouging cases in recent months.

Munster’s Alan Quinlan missed out on the entire Lions tour following suspension after the Munster-Leinster Heineken Cup semi-final in May, while South Africa’s Schalk Burger was given an eight-week ban for gouging Irish Lion Luke Fitzgerald in the Test series. The day after Burger was cited for that offence, Italy’s Sergio Parisse was suspended for eight weeks for a similar offence against the All Blacks’ Isaac Ross.

Meanwhile, the appeal of Munster’s John Hayes against his six-week suspension will be heard today. Hayes received a red card under law 10.4 (b) during the Leinster v Munster Magners League game, for a stamp on Cian Healy.

Following a disciplinary hearing, Hayes was suspended for six weeks from the date of the offence, up to and including Saturday 14th November.

The appeal hearing will take place in the IRFU offices today and will be chaired by Billy Glynn, chairman of the IRFU Appeals Committee, and he will be assisted by Leo Galvin and George Spotswood.