ULSTER PROP TOM O’TOOLE will miss the first two weekends of the Six Nations after he was handed a six-match ban for his red card against Munster in the pre-Christmas interpro.
O’Toole was sent off by referee Ben Whitehouse for dangerous play in the first half of Ulster’s 22-19 United Rugby Championship defeat on 20 December.
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He was deemed to have dropped his weight onto the left leg of Alex Nankivell while attempting to clear him out of a ruck. Nankivell injured his hamstring in the incident and has been sidelined since, with Munster yet to confirm the timeline for his return.
O’Toole accepted the red card, which was deemed to have an entry point of 10 weeks due to its reckless nature and Nankivell’s injury, but was reduced to six weeks following O’Toole’s admission and his apologies.
As he was previously red-carded for foul play against Toulouse in April 2022, no further mitigation could be applied.
The suspension was confirmed to include Ireland’s Six Nations games against England on 1 February and Scotland on 8 February after interim head coach Simon Easterby confirmed to the disciplinary hearing that O’Toole had a “very good chance” of being named in the matchday 23 for both games.
He has already served the first of his six matches by missing Ulster’s URC victory over Connacht, and will now sit out the Champions Cup double-header against Leicester and Exeter as well as Zebre’s visit to Ravenhill in the URC on 26 January.
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Tom O'Toole to miss Six Nations openers after being hit with six-match ban
ULSTER PROP TOM O’TOOLE will miss the first two weekends of the Six Nations after he was handed a six-match ban for his red card against Munster in the pre-Christmas interpro.
O’Toole was sent off by referee Ben Whitehouse for dangerous play in the first half of Ulster’s 22-19 United Rugby Championship defeat on 20 December.
He was deemed to have dropped his weight onto the left leg of Alex Nankivell while attempting to clear him out of a ruck. Nankivell injured his hamstring in the incident and has been sidelined since, with Munster yet to confirm the timeline for his return.
O’Toole accepted the red card, which was deemed to have an entry point of 10 weeks due to its reckless nature and Nankivell’s injury, but was reduced to six weeks following O’Toole’s admission and his apologies.
As he was previously red-carded for foul play against Toulouse in April 2022, no further mitigation could be applied.
The suspension was confirmed to include Ireland’s Six Nations games against England on 1 February and Scotland on 8 February after interim head coach Simon Easterby confirmed to the disciplinary hearing that O’Toole had a “very good chance” of being named in the matchday 23 for both games.
He has already served the first of his six matches by missing Ulster’s URC victory over Connacht, and will now sit out the Champions Cup double-header against Leicester and Exeter as well as Zebre’s visit to Ravenhill in the URC on 26 January.
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Alex Nankivell Banned Ireland Rugby Tom O'Toole Ulster