Friday 1 January 2016 15:23, UK
Leinster prop Cian Healy has been suspended for two weeks after being found guilty of striking Toulon hooker Guilhem Guirado with his knee.
Healy was cited by the match citing commissioner, John Byett (England), for striking Guirado with his knee in the European Rugby Champions Cup Round 3 match at Stade Felix Mayol on December 13, a game Toulon won 24-9.
The minimum ban for kneeing an opponent is three weeks but judicial officer Jeremy Summers of England decided to reduce the sentence given Healy's previous history of good behaviour.
A statement from European Professional Club Rugby said: "In upholding the citing complaint, the Judicial Officer decided that (Cian) Healy had committed a reckless act of foul play and he found that the offence was at the low end of World Rugby's sanctions and selected three weeks as the appropriate entry point.
"He then reduced the sanction by one week taking into account the player's good character and good conduct during the hearing before imposing a suspension of two weeks."
Healy is free to play from Monday January 11 and will miss two games in the Guinness PRO12 - a home tie against Connacht on January 1 and a trip to Ospreys on January 8.
The Ireland international was initially suspended for two weeks on December 17 following a first disciplinary hearing in Paris when it was found that the charge of striking could not be proven.
The independent judicial officer for that hearing was Roger Morris of Wales who determined that Healy had committed an act of foul play and amended the charge to dangerous charging or obstructing or grabbing of an opponent without the ball, including shouldering.
An independent appeals committee scrapped that suspension, however, and decided that the complaint should be reheard by a different judicial officer, leaving Healy free to play against Leinster in the return fixture and against Munster last weekend.
Healy and Leinster appealed against the amended sanction, claiming Morris failed to follow due process in imposing the revised charge, but he has now been found guilty of the original charge and will still serve a two-week ban.
You can watch Ospreys host Leinster in the Guinness PRO12 on Friday, January 8 live on Sky Sports 1 HD, with coverage from 7.30pm.
