Comments on: Nick Wood gets eight week suspension http://www.therugbyblog.com/nick-wood-gets-eight-week-suspension Rugby Union opinion and discussion, for the fans, by the fans. Fri, 24 Oct 2014 18:08:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.0 By: Blubhttp://www.therugbyblog.com/nick-wood-gets-eight-week-suspension#comment-101128 Fri, 20 Sep 2013 12:03:32 +0000 http://www.therugbyblog.com/?p=28608#comment-101128 Agree with Wookie. No argument from me.

I do wonder what sort of footwear they play with on this surface. Whilst making it quite clear that stamping is in no way condoned, could there be a sub-conscious process whereby the natural aversion is lessened.

It is not just that Wood has no history in this area, it is also the fact that it was so early in the game, and was clearly not an emotional reaction to any perceived or actual offence against him (as that can sometimes cause the “red mist”).

]]> By: xxxwookiehttp://www.therugbyblog.com/nick-wood-gets-eight-week-suspension#comment-100900 Thu, 19 Sep 2013 09:03:13 +0000 http://www.therugbyblog.com/?p=28608#comment-100900 It sounds about right to me to be honest. The laws are there and it’s reasonably clear what gets what level of sanction. Low level for blows to the body that are deemed “excessive”, mid level for blows to ankles/hands/wrists that risk significant injury and high level for attacks to the head or face.

Wood had no defence, he looked down, the ball was available, he stamped first on the body and the next blow was to the head. He had no reason to do it and an accident can be reasonably well ruled out and the only assumption a panel can come to is that it was deliberate. Dave Attwood got a 9 week ban (video below) for an aggreivated stamp when he could not see where his foot was going, so it could be argued that this is lenient.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZKDYuJgHaE

It would appear that the RFU have not accounted for mitigation in spite of his record and (presumably) guilty plea and obvious remorse. The full ruling is not available on the RFU yet and the articles have not indicated whether there was mitigation, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it were 12 weeks down to 8. The fact that he got a red card at the time and missed pretty much the entire game will also have counted. This would be much worse had he not been pinged in the game.

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