Dragons forward to miss start of season due to suspension
Wednesday 20 June 2018 16:29, UK
Wales forward Ross Moriarty will miss the start of next season after receiving a four-week ban following his sending off in last Saturday's victory over Argentina.
Moriarty was red-carded near the end of the game in Santa Fe after grasping Argentina fly-half Nicolas Sanchez around the neck as Wales triumphed 30-12.
The Dragons back-rower, who started at No 8 against the Pumas, admitted the act of foul play, accepted the red card and apologised for his actions, according to World Rugby.
As a result, he was handed the suspension by an independent judicial committee and it will cover pre-season friendlies and Dragons' first Guinness PRO14 match of the 2018/19 campaign.
A World Rugby statement read: "Having conducted a detailed review of all the available evidence, the independent judicial committee deemed the offence to be at the mid-range scale of seriousness, which has an entry point of six weeks.
"However, taking into account the aggravating factor that the player did not desist from his actions on the direction of the assistant referee (which resulted in an addition of an extra week) and mitigating factors including the player's immediate apology and disciplinary record (which resulted in a deduction of three weeks), the player was suspended for a period of four weeks.
"The suspension, which is based on Moriarty's playing schedule, will end following his club's first match of the 2018-19 PRO14 season."
Moriarty, who has won 23 caps, started all three Tests on Wales' recently-completed tour, helping his country to two victories over Argentina and a win against South Africa in Washington DC.
