Henco Venter verdict: Glasgow Warriors discover length of ban and games he could miss

Henco Venter, the Glasgow Warriors forward, has been banned for six weeks after being found guilty of making “reckless contact” with the eye of Leicester Tigers prop Dan Cole during Saturday night’s Investec Champions Cup match.

The No 8 will miss Friday’s Champions Cup quarter-final clash with Leinster in Dublin and is also likely to be banned for Glasgow’s remaining regular season United Rugby Championship games against Zebre, the Bulls, Benetton and Leinster, plus one other match depending on their progress in the two tournaments.

Leicester are understood to have complained to European Rugby chiefs about Venter putting his hand in the face of Cole during the round of 16 match at Scotstoun and the incident was flagged up by the match citing commissioner, Adrien Menez of France. It happened in the second minute and Venter went on to score two tries in Glasgow’s 43-19 win. He was named player of the match.

Henco Venter has been banned for an incident in Glasgow Warriors' win over Leicester Tigers. | SNS Group

His case was heard by an independent disciplinary committee on Tuesday and Venter was found guilty of “reckless contact” rather than the more serious offence of “intentional contact”.

Venter accepted he had committed an act of foul play that would have warranted a red card and because he showed remorse and because of his previous clean disciplinary record, the sanction was reduced from 12 weeks to six.

Nevertheless, the ban will come as a blow to both player and club. Glasgow are chasing trophies on two fronts and Venter showed on Saturday just what an influential player he is. The South African is in his final season with the Warriors after agreeing a deal to move to French club Brive next season and may not have many, if any, opportunities to play for Glasgow again.

A statement from governing body EPCR said: “An independent Disciplinary Committee comprising Richard Whittam KC (England, Chair), Ken Owens (Wales), and Marcello d’Orey (Portugal) heard the case by video conference on Tuesday 8 April.

“Venter accepted he had committed an act of foul play, and that it would have warranted a red card, but that it was not intentional. The Committee heard evidence and submissions from the player and his representatives, and from the EPCR Disciplinary Officer, Liam McTiernan.

“The Committee determined that Venter had made reckless contact with the eye, in contravention of Law 9.12, and accordingly upheld the citing.

“It was decided that the offending was at the mid-range of World Rugby’s sanctions, and twelve weeks was selected as the appropriate entry point.

“Taking into account the player’s timely acceptance that he had committed an act of foul play that would have warranted a red card, his expression of remorse, clean disciplinary record and good conduct and full participation in the disciplinary hearing, the independent Disciplinary Committee decided to reduce the sanction by the maximum of 50% before imposing a six-week suspension.

“The precise matches to which the sanction applies is subject to confirmation of the club’s upcoming fixture list.

“Both the player and EPCR have the right to appeal the decision.”