Cornish Pirates joint-head coach Alan Paver has been banned for six matches after admitting to slapping an opposition player.
The coach, who has been in joint-charge of the club alongside Gavin Cattle for almost a decade, was sent off in the final 10 minutes of Saturday’s Champ game between Pirates and Worcester Warriors after a melee.
It has been claimed the confrontation began when Worcester’s Will Reed tried to prevent a Pirates player getting the ball back to take a penalty.
Paver then entered the field and when Worcester’s Jake Garside came in to intervene, he slapped him. Worcester won the game 29-7 at the Mennaye Field in Penzance.
Paver was charged with conduct prejudicial to the interests of the game, with the incident’s level of seriousness deemed to be at the high end of the offence.
The disciplinary panel initially gave Paver a 12-game ban but cut the punishment by 50% because he admitted to the charges and had a good previous disciplinary record.
It means he will miss the club’s remaining regular-season matches, as well as the first round of the play-offs should the club finish in the top six.
If they fail to reach the play-offs, he will be banned for the Pirates’ first pre-season game.
Under the terms of his ban he is not able to be with the side for an hour before the start of any match.
“I have been coaching for over 14 years and have maintained a completely clean disciplinary record throughout that time,” Paver said in a statement to the disciplinary panel.
“I fully recognise that my actions do not align with the values of the game or the standards expected of me as a coach.”