Suspended ban for Castrogiovanni

Toulon’s former Leicester prop Martin Castrogiovanni has received a suspended four-match ban after he admitted a misconduct complaint, European Professional Club Rugby has announced.

Castrogiovanni has also been ordered to pay €10,000 to charity in Leicester following his post-match comments aimed at the Premiership club and their rugby director Richard Cockerill after Toulon’s 25-21 European Champions Cup defeat against the Tigers earlier this month.

His suspension is suspended until April 30 2016, and will be activated “in the event of any off-field misconduct complaint being successfully brought against him”, EPCR said.

A misconduct complaint charge was lodged against 33-year-old Castrogiovanni, who has won 107 Test caps, following a bizarre post-match episode at Welford Road on December 7.

He sought out English journalists in the Leicester press room and then launched an expletive-laden outburst at Cockerill and Tigers over his perception of the way he left the Aviva Premiership club in 2013.

His six-minute tirade included nine mentions of the f-word and two of the c-word.