Principles

• Minety RFC view discipline on and off the pitch as an essential facet of our Club and its reputation.

• We support the disciplinary system, which protects our sport and upholds its values.

• We observe the sport’s laws and regulations and report serious breaches.

• We will ensure that acts of Foul Play and Misconduct (on and off the field of play) are dealt with expeditiously and fairly so that the image and reputation of the Game and our Club is not adversely affected.

• Rugby is a team game and as such inappropriate behaviour at training will not be tolerated and will be referred to the Disciplinary Panel.

• These principles apply to players, spectators and anyone associated with Minety RFC.

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General Provision

• Minety’s Disciplinary Procedure is aligned with “RFU Regulation 19 – Discipline”, full copies of which are available from the members of the club’s Disciplinary Panel (see Structure, below and Appendix 3)

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Structure

The Minety Disciplinary Committee will consist of the following people:

• Chairperson

• Two panel members

• Panel Disciplinary Secretary

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The Senior & Youth Section Committees shall formulate the constitution of their disciplinary committees at their first sitting each season.  For current membership of Panels and RFU contacts, see Appendix 3).

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Process

• In all circumstances the Club Secretary or the Chairperson of the Club’s Disciplinary Committee must report to the Chairman or Secretary of the Dorset & Wilts Disciplinary Panel within 48 hours after the match the name, address and contact telephone number of any player who has been ordered off the playing enclosure, including players under the age of 17.

• The club Disciplinary Committee shall confer within 3 days of the sending off. If a hearing is required this must also be held within 3 days of the sending off.

• Disciplinary Committee hearings shall be conducted in a fair and just manner and in accordance with the fundamental principles of natural justice.

• The player must make every effort to attend both the club disciplinary hearing and the relevant RFU disciplinary hearing (Dorset & Wilts)

• The accused person will be given a full opportunity to answer the charge and call any evidence in support of their case.

• The accused person is entitled to be assisted or represented by a person of their choice.

• The standard of proof in all disciplinary cases (including before Appeal Panels) is the balance of probabilities. For the avoidance of doubt there is no sliding

• Where a person, Player or Club is sent off and footage has been taken of the match in which the incident in question occurred, the Club which took or commissioned the match footage shall forward a copy of it as soon as possible to the Dorset and Wilts RFU Disciplinary Secretary with jurisdiction of the Footage of the incident, where available, will be deposited within 48 hours in a “Dropbox account” and access made available to the: Chairman of the D&W Disciplinary Panel; the Club Chairman; the Club Coach; the Club captain; members of the Club Disciplinary Committee; and an external advisor associated with the club.

• The Minety Disciplinary Committee will undertake an assessment of the seriousness of the Player’s conduct which constitutes the offending and will categorise the offence as being at the lower end, mid-range or top end of the scale of seriousness in order to identify the appropriate entry point for consideration of a particular incident(s) of Foul Play. (See Appendices 1 & 2).

• The Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee will forward the report of the Club Disciplinary Committee to the Chairman of the D&W Disciplinary Panel including recommendations relating to proposed sanctions (see Appendices 1& 2)

• The Standard fee for each case held by D&W RFU is £100. This is reduced to £75 when the club reports the red card within 48 hours, enters a plea, indicates attendance (or otherwise) beforehand and reports the player’s GMS number before the hearing.

• The player must pay any fine imposed upon them.

• Team managers, coaches and captains shall ensure the judgement is enforced.

• The Minety Disciplinary Committee reserves the right to impose additional discretionary fines, suspensions or club bans depending on the nature and severity of the incident. These will include:

  • Automatic fines if the card relates to abuse of the match official(s)

  • £10 for a yellow card

  • £20 for a red card

  • Fines for inappropriate behaviour at training will also be imposed at the discretion of the Minety Disciplinary Committee

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The Club Secretary will:

• Familiarise himself with RFU Disciplinary Regulations as set out in the current edition of the RFU Handbook.

• Ensure that all team captains know they must report dismissals to you or any other designated officer who deals with matters of discipline.

• Will inform the relevant disciplinary body for the game within 24hours of the game of the sending off.

• Produce any video (made by or on behalf of the Club) at any game in which a player is dismissed or cited. This requirement applies even if the player concerned is a member of the opposition.

• Respond fully and quickly to any correspondence.

• Ensure the player is advised of the time, date and venue of the disciplinary hearing and is provided with copies of the disciplinary papers relating to that hearing.

• Advise the D&W RFU Disciplinary Secretary if the player is unable to attend the hearing.

• Advise the D&W RFU Disciplinary Secretary whether the attendance of the Referee is requested where it is intended to question the sending off report.

• Where a player has been offered a ‘postal plea’ and wishes to plead guilty and have the case heard in his absence, ensure that the D&W RFU Disciplinary Secretary is so advised within 14 days and that all of the requested information is provided.

• Inform the player and the club of the decision of the RFU disciplinary hearing.

• Ensure all sanctions are correctly applied and disciplinary costs are paid within 21 days of the receipt of the Judgement. If the costs are not paid the player shall remain suspended until such time as they are paid.

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RFU REGULATION 19 – DISCIPLINE (APPENDIX 1)

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Yellow Cards

Two Yellow Cards in a Match

1. A Player that receives two yellow cards in a match (whether for Foul Play or technical offences) and is ordered off after the second yellow card (i.e. awarded a red card), will have their case heard by the Club’s Disciplinary

2. Where a Player has been ordered off as a result of receiving two yellow cards and one or both of those yellow cards was awarded for Foul Play, then the Player may challenge one or both of the Foul Play yellow cards. There is no right of appeal against the award of a yellow card for a technical offence. If the Disciplinary Panel allows an appeal against one or both of the Foul Play yellow cards the red card shall be expunged from the Player’s record. Any yellow card that was not challenged and set aside by the Disciplinary Panel shall remain on the player’s record.

3. If a Player has received two Citing Commissioner Warnings (CCWs) or a combination of CCW and a yellow card during a match he shall be treated for disciplinary purposes as if he had been ordered-off during the game.

4. The Disciplinary Panel is required to apply a sanction for the offence of persistent offending, not for the substantive offences relating to each yellow card. In this case the appropriate entry point for persistent offending within a single match is a suspension of one week. Sanctioning in these circumstances should be determined by reference to the methodology in RFU Regulation 19 and in particular to the application of mitigating and aggravating.

5. No disciplinary action will be taken in relation to yellow cards awarded for technical offences.

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Yellow Cards Received

2 technical yellow cards in a match or 1 technical and 1 Foul Play yellow card in a match

• Sending off sufficient

2 Foul Play yellow cards in a match

• 1 week suspension from playing