Ireland hooker Jerry Flannery could well be wasting his and the Six Nations appeal panel’s time next week when he aims to get his six-week ban for kicking France’s Alexis Palisson rescinded.
It was a moment of madness from the 31-year-old Munster hot-head, who swept the France wing clean off his feet with a full-blooded challenge which wouldn’t have looked out of place in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Palisson was forced to hobble off the pitch in France’s 33-10 victory over Declan Kidney’s side at the Stade de France, and the versatile 22-year-old expressed his dismay that Flannery wasn’t even sin-binned for the challenge which he described as an “attack”.
The ban which followed was surely the minimum sentence that Ireland could have expected. Flannery must have felt he’d been let off lightly given the severity of the challenge, and even more so as the disciplinary panel which handed down the punishment on the hooker took lenience on him – cutting down the planned eight-week ban after he’d shown remorse for his actions and pleaded that it had been accidental.
Regardless of whether his potentially frivolous appeal is successful or not, Flannery will not feature in Ireland’s must-win clash against England at Twickenham this weekend – a significant blow to Ireland’s hopes of winning back-to-back Six Nations titles.
Ulster hooker Ross Best will deputise for the suspended Flannery; but if this pending appeal at least reduces the 31-year-old’s ban by a few weeks, then he could be back for the team’s final home matches against Wales and then Scotland.
This isn’t the first time that Flannery has been cited for violent conduct on the pitch, though. Just two years ago, the Munster hooker was initially banned for eight weeks after stamping on Palisson’s compatriot Julien Bonnaire. The reason why he may have decided to appeal his current suspension is because that eight-week ban in 2008 was reduced to just four weeks – setting a precedent for his current appeal.
However, there is a risk that Flannery will have his suspension increased after Six Nations disciplinary officer, Jon Davis, launched a cross appeal. If deemed appropriate, the Ireland hooker could be out for a significantly longer period of time.
When considering that David Attoub was banned for 64 weeks longer than Flannery for an offence which didn’t even force his victim off the field of play, the Ireland international must surely be counting his lucky stars at this moment in time.
Obviously, admitting to the offence and acting repentant has worked in Flannery’s favour. Attoub, on the other hand, failed to realise the error of his ways after eye-gouging Ulster’s Stephen Ferris last December and refused to accept responsibility for his actions.
In fairness to Flannery, the way he’s handled the situation in the past week has been impeccable. Admitting responsibility, being apologetic and professionally arguing his case for an appeal is perhaps the sole reason why he’s still available for Munster’s Heineken Cup quarter-final against Northampton Saints in April.
However, that’s not to say that his six-week ban should be reduced.
There’s no denying that it was an incredibly reckless challenge; but justice has already been served without the need to change the severity of the punishment.
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