[Law] Is spitting at an opposition player a red card ?

[CrouchTPEngage]

Just watching Quins v Wasps. Commentary team are saying that Quins 2 deliberately spat at a player who was on the ground. If you saw this , would you red card ?

 

[ChrisR]

Yes, yes and yes again.

 

[crossref]

Dave Ward also gets a YC for deliberately treading on an ankle
Not a good day for him

 

[CrouchTPEngage]

Dave Ward also gets a YC for deliberately treading on an ankle
Not a good day for him

Yep. Same incident really. Difficult to tell from the camera angle but if the ref saw the spit and saw it as deliberate then he should be off with a red . Right ?

 

[colesy]

Just watching Quins v Wasps. Commentary team are saying that Quins 2 deliberately spat at a player who was on the ground. If you saw this , would you red card ?

Red without question - but be prepared for the player to tell the disciplinary panel that he spat at the ground and in no way was it directed at another player.

 

[Zebra1922]

Oh yes, if I saw a player spitting at the opposition then straight red, regardless of if it lands on the player or not. Disgusting habit, people manage to workout at the gym without spitting everywhere I don’t see why rugby players need to do it so much regardless where they are aiming.

 

[Marc Wakeham]

No question RED. I'd be considering a red for standing on a joint lsuch as an ankle. Such actions could end a career.

Caveat. I've not watched the incident in question.

 

[SimonSmith]

Spitting:
LE - 4 weeks
MR - 8 weeks
TE - 12+

It's definitely a red card

 

[Ian_Cook]

Just watching Quins v Wasps. Commentary team are saying that Quins 2 deliberately spat at a player who was on the ground. If you saw this , would you red card ?

Yes
Absolutely
All day long
On any day that ends in a "Y"
24/7/365

 

[oldman]

On a slightly different tack. Played in a Boxing day game some years ago (15+) when a player reaching for a high ball was tackled with tacklers shoulder hitting the tackled players stomach very hard. Result, not spitting, but the contents of the stomach all over tacklers back. I seem to remember both players left the field, one to clean himself up the other to "die" quietly on the touchline.

 

[L'irlandais]

Vomiting in the tackle. That’s a Golden Oldies sorta thing. Rarely deliberate, hardly an act of foul play.


Jerome Fillol banned for fourteen weeks for spitting at Peter Stringer

[LAWS]10.4(m) Acts contrary to good sportsmanship. A player must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship in the enclosure.

Under the IRB Sanctions for Foul Play, Law 10.4(m), spitting at a player, carries the following sanction entry points: Low End: 4 weeks; Mid Range: 7 weeks; Top End: 11+ to 52 weeks.[/LAWS]
IRB’s Sanctions for spitting consider that 26 weeks, from the available range of 11 to 52 weeks, was the appropriate entry point.

I guess it depends how good his aim was. If you throw a punch and miss completely, that would surely be taken into consideration by an independent Disciplinary Hearing?

 

[beckett50]

Yep. Same incident really. Difficult to tell from the camera angle but if the ref saw the spit and saw it as deliberate then he should be off with a red . Right ?

Bearing in mind it was the TMO that brought the foul play to the attention of the referee. Perhaps the TMO missed it as well and it is now down to the Citing Officer.

 

[CrouchTPEngage]

For what its worth, and after many viewings of the footage, I now do not believe there is strong enough evidence that Dave Ward did actually spit at the player.
TV Cameras can tend to flatten the 3D view and make things look a lot closer. So it looks bad but he could reasonably just be spitting out just to the left of the player on the ground. Ah yes, you may ask, why take the risk !?

 

[SimonSmith]

Vomiting in the tackle. That’s a Golden Oldies sorta thing. Rarely deliberate, hardly an act of foul play.


Jerome Fillol banned for fourteen weeks for spitting at Peter Stringer

[LAWS]10.4(m) Acts contrary to good sportsmanship. A player must not do anything that is against the spirit of good sportsmanship in the enclosure.

Under the IRB Sanctions for Foul Play, Law 10.4(m), spitting at a player, carries the following sanction entry points: Low End: 4 weeks; Mid Range: 7 weeks; Top End: 11+ to 52 weeks.[/LAWS]
IRB’s Sanctions for spitting consider that 26 weeks, from the available range of 11 to 52 weeks, was the appropriate entry point.

I guess it depends how good his aim was. If you throw a punch and miss completely, that would surely be taken into consideration by an independent Disciplinary Hearing?

I might be missing things, but I published the current sanction range for spitting in my earlier post. Starts, Low End, at 4 weeks

 

[L'irlandais]

I might be missing things, but I published the current sanction range for spitting in my earlier post. Starts, Low End, at 4 weeks

No, your range is the correct current one. The Bath v Stade Français incident was in April 2013. It presumably refers to the range applied at the time.

 

[Marc Wakeham]

What about a player Red carded for and offence who then spits at the opposition supporters? Obviously ony one red card but anything to be added at the hearing (disrepute and all that)? The spit was clearly captured on TV.

 

[L'irlandais]

Club Statement: Dave Ward

I would also like to make clear that I did not spit on another player during the match yesterday. Regardless of what the television footage looks like I know that I have never spat on a player in all my career and will never do so.

Shame the citing official has left it up to Quins to discipline their own player. The club have a vested interest in not handing out a lenghty ban.