Leinster won’t appeal Jack McGrath ban

Leinster head coach Matt O’Connor will have to play out the final stages of Champions Cup pool qualifying without Ireland loose head prop Jack McGrath after the province decided not to appeal his three-week suspension.

McGrath will miss the remaining Pool 2 games in Europe, starting with Saturday’s visit of Castres to the RDS, having been banned last week for a stamp on Rory Best during the Guinness Pro12 win over Ulster on January 3.

The Leinster management, who are waiting for fellow Test loosehead Cian Healy to make a full recovery from a serious hamstring injury, had considered appealing the suspension in an effort to have McGrath available to face Castres and Wasps over the next two weekends and had to weigh up a potential increase to the ban as an alternative consequence of such an appeal.