Saracens blow as Brendan Venter's final ban appeal is rejected

Steve Douglas10 April 2012

Brendan Venter's controversial ban from Twickenham for Saracens' Guinness Premiership play-off final against Leicester on Saturday was confirmed last night.

Venter had appealed against a Rugby Football Union disciplinary ruling which banned him for 14 weeks and barred him from attending the final. The sentence was reduced to 10 weeks last night but the restrictions remain.

It is a huge blow to the Sarries director of rugby, who was punished for his conduct with Leicester fans at Welford Road on 8 May with the suspension "for conduct prejudicial to the interests of the union and the game".

Saracens chief executive Edward Griffiths said: "We are happy that Brendan was given a fair hearing but disappointed he will not be allowed in the ground in any capacity for this very important match. We believe this penalty is disproportionate. All our energies will now be focused on the team and the final."

The panel's chairman Jim Sturman QC said: "The panel was impressed by Dr Venter's appeal for assistance with his conduct in the future and his desire to avoid future clashes with the authorities. We considered that the appeal against conviction had no merit but have reduced the sentence to allow Dr Venter and Saracens the opportunity to put this matter behind them and start next season with a clean slate."

Earlier, there had been reason for celebration, after Saracens hooker Schalk Brits was voted the Rugby Players' Association player of the year in his first season in the Guinness Premiership.

Brits said: "The last 12 months since I arrived in the UK have been absolutely phenomenal on and off the pitch and now having this to add to everything else is very special indeed.

"There's something special happening at Saracens and I am happy to be part of it.

"Now we have one more game to play and we are looking forward to giving it our all in the final on Saturday. Winning the final would obviously end the season on the ultimate high."

Meanwhile, Jonny Wilkinson has not broken a rib and will be able to tour Australia and New Zealand with England but he has not been considered for Sunday's clash with the Barbarians at Twickenham.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in