30 Mar 2012

Rugby player gets 32-week ban

12:37 pm on 30 March 2012

The Northampton flanker Calum Clark has been banned for 32 weeks after pleading guilty to hyperextending the right arm of an opponent during an English rugby match.

The 22-year-old was cited after Leicester hooker Rob Hawkins had his elbow broken in the incident during Northampton's Anglo-Welsh Cup final defeat.

He was then suspended indefinitely by his club.

Clark, a member of England's elite squad and who was Saints' captain in the game, will be suspended until November 1st.

He was reported for an act contrary to good sportsmanship while Hawkins required surgery, sidelining him for the rest of this season.

Clark is the second Northampton forward to receive a lengthy ban this week after England hooker Dylan Hartley landed an eight-week suspension for biting Ireland flanker Stephen Ferris' finger during a Six Nations game earlier this month.