Ex-Shropshire student Sam Egerton handed 15-week ban for Varsity sending off
Former Shropshire student Sam Egerton has been suspended for 15 weeks for his dismissal in the Varsity Match against Cambridge at Twickenham last week.
Oxford scrum-half Egerton received the first red card in the fixture's 141-year history following an incident at a ruck involving flanker Nick Viljoen.
Referee Matt Carley dismissed Egerton, who went to Adams Grammar School and has also played for Newport, in the 51st minute on the advice of the television match official.
Egerton appeared before a Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel last night where he pleaded guilty to "making contact with the eye(s) or eye area of an opponent". The RFU confirmed in a statement that the suspension would run from from December 12 to March 26, 2014.
Despite playing most of the second half with 14 men following Egerton's dismissal, Oxford went on to complete their fourth successive victory in the Varsity Match, defeating their great rivals 33-15.
Egerton, who signed a deal with London Welsh last year, starred in last season's encounter which gave the Dark Blues a late comeback victory and secured their first Varsity hat-trick in 11 years. He appeared to be on form once again after he scored Oxford's third try from their dominant scrum, but he was shown a straight red card less than 10 minutes later for the incident.
Oxford captain John Carter issued a statement on behalf of Egerton, a law student, maintaining that it was purely an accidental incident.
He said: "I'm not sure exactly what happened, but Sam is very apologetic for anything that could be construed from it, and as far as we're aware it was completely accidental.
"Bringing the game into disrepute is never a good thing, and it was just an unfortunate incident.
"It's important for him that he isn't dragged down by it."
