Yates banned for six months

Kevin Yates pleaded his innocence last night after an RFU disciplinary hearing in London found him guilty of ear biting and handed him a six-month ban.

The 25-year-old Bath and England prop's ban includes the month he has already served while awaiting his fate after being accused of biting the ear of London Scottish flanker Simon Fenn in a Tetley's Bitter Cup tie on January 10th.

Yates, who was capped twice in Argentina last year, is out of rugby until July 10th and misses selection for the rest of the Five Nations and England's summer tour of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

The RFU disciplinary panel, chaired by Michael Burton QC heard 25 hours of evidence spread over four different days before revealing their verdict.

An RFU statement said the allegations made by London Scottish against Yates were "of a serious nature" and that the disciplinary panel had imposed the six-month ban and costs on Yates "as a result of a serious, but isolated incident."

A shocked Yates emerged from the hearing to reveal his disappointment at the verdict and his determination to appeal against it.

He said: "I am very upset and disappointed with the decision - reached despite the fact that there was no conclusive evidence - and I am completely innocent.

"I am immediately lodging an appeal with my lawyers and it will be dealt with straight away," he vowed.

European champions Bath accepted Yates's ban and will now press ahead with plans to hold their own disciplinary hearing.

"Bath accept the decision with regard to Kevin and regret that a serious injury was suffered by Simon Fenn," said the club's company director Thomas Sheppard. "We will now hold our own disciplinary hearing to decide what the club is to do. It is for Kevin to decide on his own appeal and we will remain neutral as far as that goes."

London Scottish chief executive Richard Yerbury said the club was "delighted by the decision" but not by the long drawn-out process which led to it.

"It is evident that the system needs to be changed by the length of time it has taken. The evidence was that the Kevin Yates affair was abhorrent and we are relieved that Simon Fenn has recovered quickly. We have lodged an appeal for costs at the minimum as our legal costs have extended well into five figures," he said.

Meanwhile, England coach Clive Woodward is waiting for details of French allegations that prop Jason Leonard stamped on Thomas Lievremont during Saturday's Five Nations defeat in Paris.

France are not citing Leonard, but want the England management to take independent action.

Lievremont had been trapped at the back of a maul and Leonard charged over him, but the incident went unnoticed by the referee and touch-judge. The French player later left the field with broken ribs.

And Bath's front-row problems have deepened after John Mallett was sent off for stamping in a second-team game on Saturday. Mallett faces a 60-day ban.