Iain Henderson hit with three-game ban, misses Ulster's Challenge Cup final in Bilbao
BLOW: Ulster captain Iain Henderson pensive after being shown a red card against the Stormers at Affidea Stadium in Belfast. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
ULSTER lock and skipper Iain Henderson has been hit with a three-game ban following his URC red card against the Stormers and is set to miss next week's European Challenge Cup final in Bilbao.
A disciplinary hearing into Henderson's sending off found him guilty of a reckless action and, with mitigation, he will miss at least three weeks. What games Henderson misses will depend on Ulster’s progress in the URC play-off rounds, but it starts with Friday night's home game against leaders Glasgow Warriors and includes the showpiece Challenge Cup decider against Montpellier a week on Friday.
With his Ireland colleague Stuart McCloskey also likely to miss out of Bilbao, and winger Jacob Stockdale a big doubt, it's a huge blow to Richie Murphy and his side.
Should Ulster qualify for the URC quarter-finals that Challenge Cup final would complete the three-week suspension. However if Ulster miss out on the URC play offs, the final game of his ban would be Ireland's Rugby Championship clash with Australia in Sydney at the start of July.
The hearing found that while a player may remove the jackler from the tackle area, the tackler must not roll, pull or twist an opponent.
Henderson was shown a yellow card by referee Andrea Piardi for the incident in Ulster's thrilling draw but it was subsequently upgraded to a 20-minute red card after review.
The Irish international appeared in front of a three-person Independent Disciplinary Committee and accepted that he had committed an act of foul play that warranted a red card. The committee deemed the act of foul play was reckless and merited a mid-range entry point of six weeks for sanctioning.
When applying mitigation, the Committee considered the player’s previous good record - one suspension in a 15-year playing career - his remorse and immediate concern for the opponent player plus his good conduct and full co-operation with the Disciplinary process.
Henderson was afforded the full 50 per cent mitigation (three weeks) which reduces the length of the suspension to three weeks.
Meanwhile Academy player Wilhelm De Klerk and Bryn Ward are two of 10 changes made by Richie Murphy for Friday's clash with leaders Glasgow Warriors at the Affidea Stadium in Belfast. Ulster need a positive result to secure a play-off spot and Champions Cup qualification and are bolstered by the return of Rob Herring and James Hume from injury.
Connacht are a point outside the play offs and they've made three changes from the side that swept Munster aside for their final regular season clash in Edinburgh Friday night. Hooker Dylan Tierney-Martin and lock Darragh Murray have been ruled out through injury, and are replaced by Eoin de Buitléar and Joe Joyce respectively. Also, Finlay Bealham returns to the front row, with Sam Illo set to make an impact off the bench.
(v Glasgow Warriors): M Lowry; W Kok; J Hume, W De Klerk; Z Ward; J Flannery, C McKee; B Ward, N Timoney (capt), J Hopes, C Irvine, H Sheridan, T O'Toole; R Herring, S Crean.
Replacements: T Stewart, A Bell, S Wilson, C Izuchukwu, L McLoughlin, N Doak, J Murphy, E McIlroy.
(v Edinburgh) : S Gilbert; S Jennings, H West, B Aki, S Bolton; J Ioane, B Murphy; B Bohan, E de Buitléar, F Bealham; J Joyce, J Murphy, C Prendergast (capt), S Hurley-Langton, S Jansen.
: M Yarr, P Dooley, S Illo, D O’Connor, P Boyle, M Devine, J Carty, S Naughton.
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