Uncertainty across Europe about the precise definition of “foul play” in rugby union shows no sign of easing after the decision to give Leicester’s Guy Porter a three-week ban for an off-the-ball collision with Clermont’s Fritz Lee in Sunday’s Champions Cup last-16 tie. The original red card has been upheld and Porter will now miss Saturday’s second leg at Welford Road.
Leicester and Porter contested the charge but an independent disciplinary panel, chaired by Wales’s Roger Morris, found the Tigers centre “had committed a reckless act of foul play” even though neither player had the ball and the head clash looked accidental. The offence was deemed to be in the mid-range category of World Rugby sanctions but Porter’s suspension was halved because of his previously clear disciplinary record.
