Castres player banned for dangerous tackle on Edinburgh's Harry Paterson

Adrea Cocagi, the Castres Olympique centre who was sent off against Edinburgh for a dangerous head-on-head tackle, has been banned for four weeks.

Castres' Andrea Cocagi, right, was shown a red card for this tackle on Edinburgh's Harry Paterson during the EPCR Challenge Cup match at Hive Stadium. (Photo by Ewan Bootman / SNS Group)

Harry Paterson, the Edinburgh full-back, was on the receiving end of Cocagi’s tackle in the seventh minute of the EPCR Challenge Cup tie at Hive Stadium on Saturday. Paterson failed a head injury assessment and was unable to return to the field. Edinburgh won the match 34-21.

An independent disciplinary dommittee comprising Charles Cuthbert (England), chair, Martyn Wood (England) and Chris Watts (Wales) studied video of the incident, and heard evidence from Cocagi, who accepted the red card decision. It was determined that the offending was at the mid-range of World Rugby’s sanctions and six weeks was selected as the appropriate entry point. Due to the player’s timely acceptance of the charge and his apology to Paterson, the committee decided to reduce the sanction by two weeks before imposing a four-week suspension.

Cocagi will be free to play from Monday, 15 January 2024, however, if he applies for and successfully completes a World Rugby Coaching Intervention course, he will be free to play on Monday, 8 January 2024. Both the player and EPCR have the right to appeal the decision.