James Ryan has been handed a three-week suspension after the red card he was shown during Ireland’s 24-13 defeat by South Africa at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday was upheld by an independent disciplinary committee.
Second row Ryan’s yellow card for a high hit on Malcolm Marx in the early stages of the loss to the Springboks was subsequently upgraded to a 20-minute red card.
The independent committee determined that by applying World Rugby’s sanctioning provisions, a mid-range entry point of six weeks was appropriate.
That has been reduced to three weeks, however, in light of Ryan accepting the red card, his clean record and other mitigating factors.
The sanction could be further reduced to two weeks should Ryan complete World Rugby’s Coaching Intervention Programme as a substitute for the final week of his suspension.
That option is aimed at modifying specific techniques and technical issues which contributed to the incidence of foul play.
As it stands, Ryan is ruled out of Leinster’s United Rugby Championship game against Dragons this weekend and the Investec Champions Cup matches at home to Harlequins on 6 December and away to Leicester Tigers on 12 December.