Quinlan's Lions dream ends as ban upheld

Rugby:Alan Quinlan's hopes of joining the British and Irish Lions touring party to South Africa have ended after the Munster flanker had his appeal against a 12-week ban dismissed by an independent Appeal Committee in Glasgow this evening. England's Tom Croft has been called-up as Quinlan's replacement.

The 34-year-old was effectively ruled out of the Lions touring party after he picked up the ban when found guilty of “making contact with the eye area” of Leinster captain Leo Cullen during their Heineken Cup semi-final defeat at Croke Park.

The independent Appeal Committee, chaired by Professor Lorne Crerar (Scotland) and included Rod McKenzie (Scotland) and HHJ Jeff Blackett (England), gave their reasons for upholding the original ban.

“Alan Quinlan had not demonstrated that the original decision had been in error, or that it should be overturned or varied, and accordingly the Appeal Committee dismissed the appeal and upheld the suspension imposed on the player of twelve (12) weeks,” tonight’s ERC statement read.

“The appeal was against the decision of the original independent Disciplinary Committee (Wednesday, May 13th, 2009) which found Mr Quinlan guilty of an act contrary to good sportsmanship in contravention of Law 10.4 (k) in that he made contact with the eye area of Leo Cullen (Leinster) during the Heineken Cup semi-final match against Leinster at Croke Park, Dublin, on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009.

Quinlan’s 12-week suspension is for 12 playing weeks which means the off-season is not included and will not therefore be eligible to play again until September 10th, 2009.

As expected Leicester and England flanker Croft was called up as Quinlan's replacement. Lions coach Ian McGeechan has already called up Scotland captain and scrumhalf Mike Blair for Quinlan’s injured Munster team mate Tomas O’Leary.

Croft’s call-up was confirmed by Lions Tour Manager Gerald Davies Davies this evening. "Alan Quinlan's suspension is naturally disappointing and he must be devastated by the outcome of the hearing and appeal,” said Davies.

“That said the Lions management fully accepts the decisions of the ERC judicial process. The outcome necessitated the selection of a new player and Ian McGeechan and his fellow selectors had no hesitation in selecting Leicester's Tom Croft."

McGeechan added: "We had to be fair and allow Alan Quinlan the opportunity to appeal his suspension. However, following the outcome of the appeal we have replaced Quinlan with Tom Croft who, it must be said, was very unlucky not to have been selected in the original tour party."

"Tom showed in his recent performances for Leicester following the tour party announcement that he could put aside his disappointment and perform at a very high level. He was on our selection reserve list and today his continued good form has been rewarded with selection to the Lions squad for the tour of South Africa."

McGeechan also lost the services of Wales and Cardiff centre Tom Shanklin who dislocated his shoulder.

The selection headaches continued as earlier today Cardiff and Wales winger Leigh Halfpenny was told he will not depart for South Africa with the rest of the squad this Sunday.

Instead he will return to Cardiff tomorrow to undergo treatment for an existing thigh injury that has proved more significant than first thought.

The Lions medical team confirmed the injury requires at least 10-14 days treatment following a scan yesterday. The Lions management team believe Halfpenny is better to receive intensive treatment in Cardiff.

“Management have always had the expectation that travelling players should be fit to play the first game on tour,” today’s statement read.

“A replacement player will be announced in due course. However, once Leigh Halfpenny is fully fit he will rejoin the Lions in South Africa.

“This will take the tour party back to 37 players as originally announced but was reduced to 36 following the injury to Welsh centre Tom Shanklin.”

The opening game of the 10-match tour is against a Royal XV in Rustenburg on May 30th. The three Test matches against world champions South Africa take place in Durban (June 20th), Pretoria (June 27th) and Johannesburg (July 4th).