Simone was sent off by the referee, Wayne Barnes (England), in the 23rd minute of the match for tackling the Scarlets full back, Leigh Halfpenny, in a dangerous manner in contravention of Law 9.13.

Law 9.13 A player must not tackle an opponent dangerously
Under World Rugby’s Sanctions for Foul Play, Law 9.13 relating to dangerous tackling carries the following sanction entry points - Low End: 2 weeks; Mid-range: 6 weeks; Top end: 10 to 52 weeks.

An independent Disciplinary Committee comprising Benjamin Rutherford (Ireland), Chair, Jamie Corsi (Wales) and Bogdan Zebega (Romania) studied video imagery of the incident, and heard evidence from Simone, who accepted the red card decision. The committee also heard submissions from the ASM Clermont Auvergne Team Manager, Aurelien Rougerie, from the ASM Clermont Auvergne Sporting Director, Didier Retiere, and from the EPCR Disciplinary Officer, Liam McTiernan.

The committee upheld the red card decision, finding that in carrying out the tackle in a dangerous manner, Simone had made contact with Halfpenny’s head. It then determined that the offending was at the mid-range of World Rugby’s sanctions and six weeks was selected as the appropriate entry point.

As the player has a clear disciplinary record and due to his timely acceptance of the charge, it was decided to grant him the full 50% mitigation and the committee therefore reduced the sanction by three weeks before imposing a three-week suspension.

Simone is free to play on Monday, 8 May, however, if he applies for and successfully completes a World Rugby Coaching Intervention, he will be free to play on Monday, 24 April.

Both the player and EPCR have the right to appeal the decision.

The ASM Clermont Auvergne centre, Irae Simone, has been suspended for three weeks following an independent Disciplinary Hearing arising from his club’s EPCR Challenge Cup quarter-final match against the Scarlets at Parc y Scarlets on Friday 7 April 2023.