Pape's 10-week ban upheld

03 March 2015Pape had claimed the 10-week sanction was "excessive and disproportionate", but a Six Nations disciplinary committee threw out his case at a hearing in London.

The 34-year-old is set to retire from Test rugby after the autumn's World Cup: now his last meaningful Six Nations contribution has become the challenge that left Heaslip with three cracked vertebrae in his back.

"The appeal committee, having considered submissions on behalf of the player and on behalf of the Six Nations disciplinary officer, dismissed the appeal with the result that the original sanction…