In today's Times, Lewis Stuart reports that "the Glasgow player was sent off by David Keane, the Irish referee, towards the end of last week's 40-29 win over Llanelli Scarlets. Though the cameras appear to have missed the incident, the official said the player was guilty of a deliberate stamp on the head of Bryn Griffiths, Llanelli's replacement lock."
"What should have been a straightforward disciplinary hearing entered the realms of the surreal when it emerged that Scottish Rugby had broken Celtic League rules in the way it commissioned the hearing. In a bizarre twist, the governing body found itself facing Roddy Dunlop, an advocate hired by a club that it owns, to fight the case against it."
"The problem arose because Scottish Rugby, embarrassingly, broke the Celtic League rules it helped to write. The procedures it established were that when a player is sent off, the hearing 'shall be within 48 hours'; they did not convene the hearing until five days after the offence."
"Internally, Glasgow accept that they are trying to wriggle out of the case on a technicality, which would cause all sorts of problems with the Welsh and Irish. Murray denies stamping on the player, claiming he did nothing more than ruck the ball and never deliberately made contact with his opponent, and the video evidence is inconclusive; it shows Murray with a raised foot but misses whether it came down on Griffiths or the ball."
"What makes the whole case particularly difficult for the union is that it helped write the rules it broke, it owns Glasgow who felt strongly enough about the blunder to consult two separate lawyers on the matter with all the financial implications that carries, and yesterday it tried to hide the affair with a statement that said that since the case was likely to be appealed 'it would be inappropriate for Scottish Rugby to offer any further comment'."
"Part of the union's problem now is that since it is its own disciplinary procedures that are being questioned, it would look ridiculous if it were to set up an appeal that left the union, or anybody tied in with the union, as judge in a case where it stands accused of breaking its own rules."
Read the full article here.