Tadhg Furlong unanimously cleared of wrongdoing over Coombes serious foul play complaint 

The veteran Ireland prop is free to play for Ireland during the Novemner internationals after a three-person disciplinary committee opted to dismiss charges the Furlong had grabbed the Munster No.8's genitals in Saturday's derby

IN THE CLEAR: Leinster and Ireland prop Tadhg Furlong. Pic: INPHO/Nick Elliott

The citing case against Tadhg Furlong has been dismissed unanimously by an independent disciplinary committee and it leaves the Leinster tighthead free to feature for Ireland in their four Nations Championships games in November and beyond.

The veteran prop had been cited after the province’s six-point URC defeat of Munster at the Aviva Stadium last Saturday for an alleged incident that occurred close to half-time and was first brought to the attention of referee Andrew Brace.

Neither Brace nor the TMO were able to ascertain any foul play at the time but citing commissioner Peter Ferguson subsequently found that there was a case to answer and Furlong was duly cited under Law 9.27 inside the required 48-hour timeframe.

The law in question states that: “A player must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship including but not limited to grabbing, twisting or squeezing the genitals.” A URC statement stated on Monday that the “Citing Commissioner in charge has made a complaint about an act of foul play by the Player (Tadhg Furlong No 3) against opponent Gavin Coombes (No 8)”.

Furlong faced the committee remotely on Thursday morning with news of the decision landing just shy of 10pm with the complaint dismissed “on the basis that he did not commit an act of foul play contrary to law 9.27”.

The word ‘unanimous’ was highlighted in bold in the press release.

The statement said that, despite the dismissal, the committee found that “Munster No.8, Mr Gavin Coombes, had given an honest account of his recollection of events surrounding the incident” and that the citing process was followed properly.

A full written summary explaining the decision is to follow “as soon as reasonably practicable”. It will be digested eagerly when it lands, not just here in Ireland but especially, you would imagine, south of the equator.

The decision comes almost exactly a year after Bulls and Springboks forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels was handed a nine-week ban after he was accused of grabbing the genital area of Connacht’s Josh Murphy, an incident Ferguson also dealt with as citing commissioner.

That decision caused a furore in South Africa at the time as it was based on the balance of probabilities rather than clear, irrefutable evidence. It had been reported this week that there was clear footage of the alleged incident from last Saturday’s interpro derby.

Munster head coach Clayton McMillan had said on Tuesday that it was obvious there was a case to answer. Furlong has been backed publicly by his Leinster head coach Leo Cullen, Leinster forwards coach Robin McBryde and by Ireland attack coach Johnny Sexton.

As it is, the decision allows Ireland head coach Andy Farrell to avoid a massive headache given Furlong’s abilities in the tight and his skills in open play. Now 33, he is no longer at his peak, but he remains by a street Ireland’s top tighthead.

His Leinster counterpart Thomas Clarkson is next in line while Connacht’s Sam Illo and Ulster’s Tom O’Toole are also options in the senior squad, and the naming of 36-year old Kieran Brookes in the Ireland XV squad shows just valuable and rare good tightheads are.

Ireland have struggled at the scrum in recent times, and the memories of the demolition job South Africa did on them last November haven’t faded. Ireland conceded six scrum penalties that day, including a penalty try, and were reduced to 12 men at one point.

The world champions are back in Dublin next month.

There were more scrum issues in the Six Nations with Furlong ‘given his wings’ by the Italians in round two while an injury crisis at loosehead forced Farrell to dig deep into the stocks when Andrew Porter, Paddy McCarthy and Jack Boyle were all out injured.

There have been some encouraging setpiece performances and trends from the provinces so far this season, but the advent of new maul laws mean defending that tactic – one the Springboks excel at – has become all the harder.

Ireland will need all hands on deck for a window that asks them to face Argentina, Fiji, South Africa and an as yet unknown opponent on the ‘finals’ weekend at Twickenham. Furlong’s presence is a huge boost to the squad before they start that schedule.