Flannery appeal date set

Jerry Flannery’s appeal against the suspension which has ruled him out of the entire RBS 6 Nations will take place in Dublin next Wednesday.

Flannery was handed an eight-week ban for stamping on Julien Bonnaire during Munster’s Heineken Cup defeat by Clermont Auvergne on January 13.

The 29-year-old looked set to start the RBS 6 Nations Championship as Ireland’s first-choice hooker and was stunned by the length of the suspension.

An ERC disciplinary panel had deemed the offence at the top end of the scale in terms of severity.

The Munster front row’s appeal will be heard by an independent committee chaired by professor Lorne Crerar (Scotland) and also comprising of HHJ Jeff Blackett (England) and Russell Howell (Wales).