SARU president Oregan Hoskins will chair an IRB enquiry into the events that resulted in Perpignan forward Marius Tincu playing in a Top 14 despite being suspended from all levels of the game.
The Romanian international hooker was suspended for 18 weeks by an independent Discipinary Committee on 4 November for alleged eye gouging in a Heineken Cup clash with the Ospreys.
Perpignan appealed against his ban, but that was thrown out. Their next step was to appeal to the French National and Olympic Sports Committee and to question the legality of a blanket ban across all competitons for their player.
Their view differed to that of the Disciplinary Committee set-up by Heinken Cup organiser, ERC, and with the belssing of Ligue National de Rugby, Tincu appeard in a Top 14 league win over Castres.
That’s when the IRB stepped in and Hoskins will head-up a three-man panel to undertake a full review of the facts and circumstances relating to the case including the identification of the steps available, if any, to ensure all Rugby sanctions are applied in France.
An IRB statement added: “The panel will also look into how, moving forward, Rugby can best ensure that there is no further repetition of such events and that the universality principle enshrined within the regulations that govern Rugby will be applied and respected in all territories.
“The universal application of sanctions is a key element of the Rugby specific sanctioning regime developed to cater for the unique characteristics of the sport and remains in operation under IRB and Rugby regulations worldwide.”
