Interesting.
The transcripts from James Ryan’s disciplinary hearing have revealed some interesting details around the incident which saw him sent off in Ireland’s loss to South Africa two weeks ago.
The Leinster lock was given his marching orders after dangerous clearout which saw him fly into a ruck with a tucked arm and make contact with the face of Springbok hooker Malcolm Marx.
There was further controversy after Ryan only received a three-game ban, which will be reduced to two if he completes ‘tackle school’.
This leniency is even more confounding with the revelation that Ryan did not even apologies to Marx.
During the hearing, the South African’s spokespeople said: “At no stage on the field, after the game, in the changing rooms, or at the post-match function did the Player make any attempt to apologise to SA#2 for the incident.”
In response, Ryan’s defence team argued that their man did not realise how serious his actions were.
They responded: “When the Red Card was issued, he had not realised that he had made head contact with SA#2 as and thought he had been sent off for coming off his feet and his tucked arm.
“The Player initially thought he had made contact with SA#2’s upper body he only realised that he had made head contact the next day when he looked up the footage.
“Should he have known that he had made head contact with SA#2, he would definitely have approached SA#2.
“He has had his own issues with concussions and would never attempt to target another player’s head in contact.”
