The Brumbies have lodged an appeal against the judicial outcome and five-week suspension of Henry Speight.

Speight was found guilty of contravening Law 10.4 (j) Lifting a player from the ground and dropping or driving that player into the ground whilst that player’s feet are still off the ground such that the player’s head and/or upper body come into contact with the ground.

The player was suspended for five weeks, which translates into four matches. But the Brumbies will challenge the suspension on two grounds – the severity of the punishment and the incident's classification as a lifting tackle, according to the club's chief executive Michael Jones.

'We've looked at and will appeal some of the findings and also the severity of the sentence in comparison to some of the previous incidents,' said Jones. 

'That was our defence right from the start [that it wasn't a lifting tackle] and whilst we presented evidence to that case, it was still deemed a lifting tackle. Why is he the guy who seems to have been singled out for what's a particularly cruel and unusual punishment.'

A Sanzar appeals committee, chaired by Nigel Hampton, with Lex Mpati and Terry Willis as members, will hear the appeal via video conference on Tuesday 30 June at 09:00 am South African time.

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