Nick De Luca ban cut on appeal
De Luca, 29, was given the initial ban, which ruled him out for the rest of the season, for the reckless challenge on Ospreys’ Tom Grabham in the closing minutes of Edinburgh’s 22-7 defeat in Swansea last month.
The independent RaboDirect PRO12 Appeal Committee, chaired by Simon Thomas (Wales), together with Pat Barriscale (Ireland), allowed the appeal and categorised the illegal tackle as a “mid-range offence carrying an entry point of eight weeks”. A further two weeks was added to “reflect the need for a deterrent for this type of dangerous tackle” and allowed mitigation of three weeks in arriving at a revised sanction of seven weeks.
De Luca will now be available for Edinburgh’s final two matches – away to Treviso on 19 April and home to Dragons on 3 May.