Rugby:Connacht and Ireland secondrow Mike McCarthy was cleared of a citing complaint of making contact with the eye or eye area of Glasgow Warriors lock forward, Tom Ryder, in the RaboDirect PRO12 match on May 5th, 2012 as a disciplinary hearing today in Cardiff.
The citing complaint was for an infringement of law 10.4(m): acts contrary to good sportsmanship. The independent RaboDirect PRO12 disciplinary committee, comprising Robert Williams (chairman), Simon Thomas and Aurwel Morgan (all Wales), heard evidence and submissions from McCarthy and his legal representative, as well as from the RaboDirect PRO12 Disciplinary Officer.
The disciplinary committee found on the evidence available, and in particular in light of Mike McCarthy’s explanation of what happened in the incident, together with a statement from Tom Ryder, that there had been no contact with the eye or eye area, and that accordingly the citing complaint was not upheld.
While the disciplinary committee found that there had been contact with an area in close proximity to the eye, it applied a test from previous cases as to the meaning of ‘eye area’ and found that McCarthy had not made contact with the ‘eye area.’
He is free to play which will be good news for the player as he is likely to be included in Ireland’s squad for the upcoming game against the Barbarians and a three test tour to New Zealand.
