Italy prop given two-match ban for red card from bench
Italy rugby prop Marco Riccioni was on Wednesday banned for two club matches after receiving a red card in his side's 57-10 Nations Championship loss to Australia in Perth.
A track-suited Riccioni was in the dug-out, but not part of Italy's match-day squad, when he ran to get involved in a scrap that spilled over the touchline during the second half of Saturday's Test.
The Perpignan front-row forward appeared to throw a punch in the melee and was given a red card which sent him to the changing rooms for the remainder of the match.
Riccioni will now sit out matches against Biarritz and Bath next month after the tournament's foul play review committee (FPRC) found him "guilty of conduct contrary to the spirit of good sportsmanship".
The committee said that the offence merited a ban for four weeks/matches but reduced it after Riccioni admitted "he committed an act of foul play" that "was deserving of a red card", said a statement issued by the governing body SANZAAR.
"Along with mitigating factors such as his disciplinary history, conduct, and remorse, the FPRC imposed a reduction of two weeks on the sanction," it said.
Italy's next match in the Nations Championship is against South Africa in Turin on November 7.
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