Bath's Underhill to miss Premiership play-offs with ban

Flanker Sam Underhill will miss nan remainder of Bath's play aft being fixed a four-week prohibition for a vulnerable tackle during nan club's European Challenge Cup last triumph against Lyon.

Underhill was shown a yellowish paper for nan head-on-head collision pinch Lyon full-back Davit Niniashvili in nan 26th minute.

The England world was cited connected Monday for nan incident, and an independent sheet upheld nan title that it warranted a reddish card.

Underhill will beryllium unavailable for Bath's lucifer against Saracens connected Saturday, arsenic good arsenic their Premiership semi-final connected Friday, 6 June.

He would beryllium unavailable if nan nine were to scope nan Premiership last astatine Twickenham connected 14 June, and if selected for England this summer, would besides beryllium unavailable to look France connected 21 June and perchance Argentina connected 5 July.

The tackle was reviewed by referee Hollie Davidson and nan tv lucifer officials during nan game, pinch a alteration successful guidance from Niniashvili earlier nan collision deemed a mitigating facet to downgrade nan incident from reddish to yellow.

At a disciplinary proceeding connected Tuesday, Underhill accepted he had committed an enactment of foul play but did not judge it warranted a reddish card.

The committee wished it was a mid-range offence, which would warrant a six-week ban, and downgraded it to 4 owed to Underhill's remorse. But they were incapable to trim it further owed to his anterior record.

The 28-year-old was fixed a three-week ban successful April aft besides being sent disconnected by Davidson during Bath's Challenge Cup information of 16 triumph against Pau successful April.

Underhill, who has 41 caps for England, has made 13 appearances for Bath this season.

"Sam is simply a world-class subordinate and he's 1 of nan champion defenders nan crippled has seen, he will decidedly beryllium missed crossed nan adjacent fewer weeks," Bath caput of rugby Johann van Graan told BBC Radio Bristol.

"But arsenic we do astatine nan club, we backmost our squad."