The Wasps director of rugby, Dai Young, has described Nathan Hughes’s six-week ban – which rules him out of three of England’s four autumn internationals – as “ridiculous” and called for an overhaul of the Rugby Football Union’s disciplinary process.
Hughes was initially set to be banned for four weeks for punching Gloucester’s Lewis Ludlow but his ill‑timed “what a joke” tweet at the end of that hearing led to two more weeks being added to his suspension. Young has no issue with Hughes being penalised for his tweet but was adamant the No 8 should not have been in the dock in the first place.
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“I thought it was ridiculous,” Young said. “The reality of it was that it was not something that the citing officer recognised himself.
“Gloucester asked the citing officer to have a look at it. If someone jumps on you on the floor and you end up with a forearm to your throat and you get cited trying to get them off then you are going to be frustrated.
“It wasn’t a punch. He tried to push someone who was on top of him, which anyone else would do. For him to get a citing was ridiculous and then the ban was even worse.
“I don’t condone the tweet but I understand the panel has nowhere to go. Contact with the face means six weeks. They can’t use any discretion or mitigating circumstances. That whole process needs to be looked at. The problem with common sense is that it is not that common. It is a professional game and for players to be banned for four games for doing very little needs to be looked at.
“If you are missing games for doing stupid things, then I am 100% behind that. If you are getting banned for doing potentially reckless things that can really hurt other players, then I am 100% behind that. To push someone else off you who is on top of you, I don’t see how that’s a ban.”