Alex Lozowski banned for two weeks to leave him free to play in England’s autumn internationals
The centre was cleared of committing a dangerous tackle on Glasgow's Ruaridh Jackson but banned for dangerously entering a ruck without binding
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Your support makes all the difference.England centre Alex Lozowski has been given a two-week ban for two separate incident in Saracens’ victory over Glasgow Warriors, leaving him fully available for next month’s autumn internationals.
Lozowski was cited by match citing commissioner Tom Lowry for committing “an act of foul play by entering a ruck dangerously” without binding to another player in the 15th minute of the 13-3 victory, which is in contravention of Law 9.20. On top of that incident, the 25-year-old was also alleged to have committed a dangerous tackle on Glasgow full-back Ruaridh Jackson in the 33rd minute, in contravention of Law 9.13.
The citing over his tackle was thrown out by a disciplinary committee in London on Tuesday night after Jackson submitted evidence by phone, with Lozowski found not to have committed an illegal tackle, but he was found guilty of dangerously charging into a ruck without binding, which was found to have warranted a red card.
“In respect of the citing complaint concerning the incident at the ruck, the committee upheld the complaint as it determined that Lozowski had committed an act of foul play that warranted a red card. It found that the offence was at the low end of World Rugby’s sanctions and two weeks was selected as the appropriate entry point.
“Despite the fact that there were some mitigating factors, the committee decided that in the absence of a guilty plea it could not reduce the sanction and a two-week suspension was imposed.”
Watch the video of Lozowski’s clearout below...
Importantly for England, the ban leaves him free to play from 29 October ahead of their first autumn international against South Africa on 3 November, should he be named in Eddie Jones’ squad on Thursday morning.
Lozowski’s form over the last year has seen him knocking on the door of the England squad, having made his debut on the tour of Argentina in the absence of their British and Irish Lions contingent, and he also played in the wins over the Pumas and Samoa during last year’s autumn internationals.
Lozowski’s hearing took place in London on Tuesday evening running into the late hours, with EPCR releasing the verdict on Wednesday morning as a result.
While he is not yet an instrumental figure in the England line-up, Lozowski’s absence will be felt at Allianz Park, where Saracens return this weekend for the European Champions Cup visit of Lyon on Saturday night depleted of a number of their key players.
As well as the visit of Lyon, Lozowski will miss next week’s Premiership Rugby Cup encounter against Leicester Tigers, with EPCR deciding that those fixtures do count towards any ban even though it is highly unlikely that Lozowski would have featured.
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