Kidney: Healy ban doesn’t add up

Leinster will not go against the wishes of Ireland head coach Declan Kidney and select Cian Healy for provincial duty this weekend but as confusion over the extent of the prop’s suspension continued, the Irish boss yesterday implied his three-week ban just didn’t add up.

On Wednesday Healy pleaded guilty to a stamp on England tighthead prop Dan Cole during last Sunday’s 12-6 RBS 6 Nations defeat but the independent championship disciplinary committee the Ireland loosehead faced in London muddied the waters in imposing, after mitigation, a three-week suspension that ends at midnight on Sunday, March 10.

Suspensions begin on the day the player was cited, which in this case was last Monday, which would indicate a finishing date to Healy’s ban on March 4, leaving him free to face France in Dublin on March 9.