WATCH: Sekope Kepu gets 3-week ban for dangerous clean out

Wallabies prop Sekope Kepu appeared today before an independent World Rugby-appointed Disciplinary Committee following the red card he received after 39 minutes of the Autumn International match between Scotland and Australia on Saturday, 25 November 2017 for an infringement of law 10.4(h) ('a player must not charge into a ruck or maul.

Charging includes any contact made without use of the arms, or without grasping a player'). Mr Kepu accepted that he had committed an act of foul play and that it had warranted a red card.
 

The Disciplinary Committee, chaired by Jean-Noel Couraud (France), along with former international players, Becky Essex (England) and De Wet Barry (South Africa), considered all of the available evidence and heard submissions from Mr Kepu and his representatives. The Disciplinary Committee considered the relevant incident to have been a dangerous shoulder charge into a ruck in which contact was made with an opponent's head. In considering sanction, the Disciplinary Committee assessed the seriousness of Mr Kepu's conduct and concluded that it had been in the mid-range of World Rugby's scale of seriousness for that type of offending, which has an entry point sanction of a six-week suspension.

 
The Disciplinary Committee considered that there were no aggravating factors and that there were several mitigating factors, including Mr Kepu's 'guilty' plea and his previous clean disciplinary record. The Disciplinary Committee allowed the maximum discount of 50% and reduced the length of the suspension to three weeks.

 
Taking account of Mr Kepu's playing schedule (and in particular that the Southern Hemisphere close season is about to start), the Disciplinary Committee suspended Mr Kepu until midnight on Sunday, 4 March 2018. He was reminded of his right of appeal.