The disciplinary committee of the Ligue nationale de rugby (LNR) has handed a 19-week ban to Guillaume Piazzoli, the Provence Rugby back-rower, after a violent act on Romuald Segy during the Pro D2 match between Provence Rugby and Dax on 20 February.

At the end of the first half, Piazzoli drove a knee into the head of the Dax fly-half while the latter was on the ground. The referee immediately punished the incident with a red card.

The committee applied a high level of seriousness to this act of brutality, corresponding to a starting ban of 20 weeks. The sanction was finally reduced to 19 weeks after mitigating circumstances were taken into account, notably the player’s admission of the facts.

Already sanctioned earlier in the season for a blow to an opponent’s face, Piazzoli is also paying for his disciplinary record.

The ban should rule him out of the end of the Pro D2 season and keep him off the pitch until the start of the autumn, unless he appeals.