LEINSTER SAY THEY were surprised to learn loosehead prop Jack McGrath has been cited for an alleged stamp during the Guinness Pro12 clash with Ulster on Saturday.
The province’s assistant coach, Marco Caputo, also said that Leinster may point out a similar incident involving Ulster number eight Roger Wilson in the inter-provincial clash.
McGrath will attend a PRO12 disciplinary hearing later this week after the independent Citing Commissioner highlighted an incident involving Ulster hooker Rory Best at the RDS on Saturday.
“No, that sort of came out of the blue,” said Caputo when asked if Leinster had been expecting the development.
“We were quite surprised by that, but it is what it is. We just need to trust that the process is thorough and fair and if all those things are equal, we shouldn’t have too much to worry about.”
McGrath himself was on the receiving end of a similar incident with Wilson in the same game, although there has been no disciplinary follow up regarding that incident as yet.
When asked if Leinster would point out the incident involving Wilson, Caputo said:
We may do. That incident that you refer to sort of highlights whether there’s a discussion around consistency and if they’re going to apply that rule then it needs to be consistent all the way through.”
Pro12 clubs are not permitted to call for citings as per the league’s disciplinary rules, although they can point the Citing Commisioner towards an incident post-match. The cut-off point for doing so is 50 hours after the fixture.
Leinster’s intention may instead be to use the Wilson incident as part of their defence in the hearing against McGrath later this week.
Caputo may have suggested that Leinster do not have “too much to worry about” regarding McGrath, but the former Wallaby is aware that his province cannot make any presumptions around the decision later this week.
“You’re never confident until the final ruling comes through,” said Caputo. “Look, I’ve been around the game long enough to know that if it looks grey, sounds grey and smells grey, it’s not grey until someone tells you its grey.
So we’re hoping that Jack will be available.”
Leinster travel to Cardiff on Saturday for their next Pro12 fixture, with Champions Cup clashes against Castres and Wasps also to come in January. The low-end sanction for stamping or trampling on an opponent is two weeks, so Caputo’s scrum may be without a key man in the next fortnight.
Does that change Leinster’s planning in the coming week?
“Not really, the focus has more been on us. We’re certainly looking at Cardiff and their strengths and weakness, but for the last couple of weeks, we’ve internalised it and made sure we’re doing things we need to do to get better.”
