Best fails in appeal against 18-week suspension

Ireland flanker Neil Best has failed in an appeal against his 18-week suspension for eye-gouging.

The 29-year-old Northampton player was given the suspension following an English Premiership game against Wasps last month.

His appeal was rejected by the RFU yesterday, meaning he will remain suspended until the end of January and will miss Ireland's autumn internationals.

The ban covers eight rounds of Guinness Premiership action, all of Northampton’s European Challenge Cup and EDF Energy Cup pool matches plus Ireland’s autumn schedule and expires on January 27.

Best was suspended last Wednesday after admitting he had “made contact with the eye or eye area” of Wasps flanker James Haskell during Saints’ 24-20 victory at Franklin’s Gardens.

It was only Best’s third game for the club following his summer move from Ulster.

The RFU panel accepted Best had not intentionally searched for Haskell’s eye, but they did not agree with Best’s account that contact with Haskell’s eye had been “fleeting” and described his actions as “grave”.

Northampton decided to challenge the ban after taking legal advice but the RFU appeal panel threw out their case at a London hearing this evening.