Alfie Barbeary handed ban after Champions Cup red card

Bath No8 Alfie Barbeary has been banned for three weeks following his red card against Racing 92 in the Investec Champions Cup on Sunday.

The 23-year-old was shown two yellow cards by referee Andrea Picardi in Bath’s 29-25 win at the Rec, resulting in a red card. The cards came in the opening and closing ten minutes of the match, and both teetered on being red card offences.

The commentary team were stunned that his first-half tackle on Racing fullback Max Spring was only adjudged to be a yellow card, and his forearm to the head of scrum-half Nolann Le Garrec in the closing minutes was not much better.

In a hearing before an Independent Disciplinary Committee comprising Declan Goodwin (Wales), Chair, Jamie Corsi (Wales) and Bogdan Zebega (Romania), Barbeary admitted the tackle on Spring warranted a red card, but did not accept that the incident with Le Garrec did.

The committee upheld the citing for the first offence, but denied the second yellow warranted a red card, and subsequently banned the forward for six weeks. That was slashed in half, however, because of his good disciplinary record.

An EPCR statement said: "The committee upheld the first citing complaint finding that Barbeary had tackled Spring in a dangerous manner, making contact with his neck area. It then decided that although Barbeary’s challenge on Le Garrec was an act of foul play and that the match officials were not wrong in issuing him with a yellow card, the player’s actions did not warrant a red card and the citing complaint was dismissed."

Barbeary will now be unavailable for Bath's Champions Cup fixture with Toulouse this weekend, their Gallagher Premiership clash with Bristol Bears and England A's fixture with Portugal in February, which he was in line to be selected for. He will therefore be available to play from Monday February 26, unless he completes for the World Rugby Coaching Intervention, where he will be free to play from Monday January 29.

Bizarrely, though his performance was bookended by two yellow cards, he was probably the best player on the pitch for the hour that he was playing against the Top 14 leaders. He was at his rampaging best against the Parisians, scoring one try and having another disallowed as Bath overturned a 22-8 deficit in the second half.

The former Wasps back row's hearing came just hours after he was omitted from Steve Borthwick's England squad for the Guinness Six Nations. The England head coach admitted that the hearing was a factor in his decision to leave Barbeary out, but was eager to emphasise that he will feature for England in the near future.

Whether he features for England later in the Six Nations when he has served his ban or perhaps in the summer, it is unknown, but his scintillating form has not gone unnoticed this season.

"I rate Alfie very highly and he knows that I have said that to him," Borthwick said. "We met a couple of weeks ago at a health food cafe in Bath and we had a good chat then, I spoke to him a week ago and yesterday and have been in regular contact with him.

"It is a competitive position and I think he has done really well.

"The disciplinary hearing tonight is a factor, I want certainty around the squad going forward. He has had some injury setbacks and it has tested his character.

"I think he is going to feature in the England team in the near future. If he continues the way he is going I think he is going to have a big part to play for English Rugby.

"I was recalling when I was coaching Leicester at the time and we were playing against Wasps, we were looking to equal a record for consecutive wins and we lost that day and Alfie’s performance in the second half of that game was incredible. I remember being sat there watching it and thinking this guy, he is not in the England squad now, but he will be an England regular in the future."