Owen Franks
The SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer Robert Stelzner SC has accepted a guilty plea from Owen Franks of the Crusaders for contravening Law 10.4 (a) Punching or striking, after he was cited following a Super Rugby match at the weekend.
Franks has been suspended from all forms of the game for 2 weeks up to and including 8 March 2015.
The incident occurred in the 10th minute of the match between the Highlanders and Crusaders played at Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin on 21 February 2015.
SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer Robert Stelzner SC assessed the case.
In his finding, Stelzner ruled the following:
“As the Duty Judicial Officer, I considered all of the evidence before me including the video footage, Citing Commissioner’s report and the submissions of Mr Aaron Lloyd made on behalf of the player.
“After taking all relevant facts of the incident into consideration, I found the incident to have a lower end entry point for breaches of 10.4 (a) Punching or striking which stipulates a 2 week suspension.
“The player submitted that he was attempting to remove the Highlanders player from the wrong side of maul. His intention was to remove the player, who was quite bigger than him, by grabbing him around the chest which would require some force, then using his bodyweight to attempt to force his opponent down and away from the ball. The player conceded that in these attempts, he struck his opponent with his arm in a careless way, but there was no malice intended.
“I concluded that while the offending was not intentional, the player’s actions were reckless in his attempts to remove the opponent from the maul. Aggravating factors involved were that there were 2 instances of a strike, with the 2nd being the more reckless than the 1st along with the opponent being in a somewhat vulnerable position with some risk of injury. I added 1 week to the suspension as a result of these factors. This was then reduced by 1 week due to mitigating factors including the player’s admission of culpability and making concessions where required for his actions, the player has had an extensive career at Super Rugby and Test level with no suspensions to his name.
“After taking all these factors into consideration, I found that a suspension of 2 weeks was warranted which was accepted by the player.
“The player’s playing schedule is such that the Crusaders have a match against the Chiefs on 28 February followed by a bye in which the Crusaders Knights have a match in which the player was scheduled to play. I asked for direct evidence from the Head Coach as to the history of Crusaders players being used in the Knights matches and whether other players would also be scheduled to play.
“The Crusaders Knights program is used by the Crusaders to give players additional games during bye weeks and I received confirmation that a number of other players, including other All Blacks, were going to be used in the Knights game which has been scheduled since January. I accepted this match to be included in the suspension period to make a meaningful sanction for the player.
“Accordingly, the player is suspended for 2 weeks up to and including 8 March 2015.”
All SANZAR disciplinary matters are in the first instance referred to a Duty Judicial Officer hearing to provide the option of expediting the judicial process.
For a matter to be dispensed with at this hearing, the person appearing must plead guilty and accept the penalty offered by the DJO.
Duty Judicial Officer: Robert Stelzner SC
Player: Owen Franks
Team: Crusaders
Position: Prop
Date of Incident: 21 February 2015
Nature of Offence: 10.4 (a) Punching or striking, A player must not strike an opponent with the fist or arm, including the elbow, shoulder, head or knee.
Elapsed time in match when incident occurred: 10th minute