Rugby player cops 56-match ban for wiping blood on a referee

An amateur rugby union player in Canberra has been banned for 56 matches for wiping blood on a referee and breaking the jaw of an opponent.

During a match against Queanbeyan last weekend, the unnamed Canberra-Wests player reportedly suffered a head wound in the ruck.

After being issued a yellow card by the referee, the player leant in and wiped his blood on the whistleblower's shirt.

He was then issued a red card before he punched and broke the nose of Queanbeyan opponent Adam Res on his way off the field.

The player was banned for 48 matches for the blood incident and another eight matches for the punch.

The 56-game ban equates to four full seasons in the Canberra rugby competition.

The player faced a possible life ban under IRB regulations, but a local judiciary determined the act constituted a medium-range physical abuse of a match official.

"There are three levels of sentencing on that charge, a low charge, medium and high range, and he got found there was a medium range, and that brings a minimum of 48 weeks," Wests coach Craig Robberds said.

"It pretty much comes down to IRB sanctions and their recommendations."

The club argued the player was suffering concussion, which was validated by a doctor.

"He got up, dazed, stumbled forward and grabbed the referee and wiped blood on him," Robberds said.

Robberds said the player is unlikely to appeal the ban, and may yet face criminal charges for the punch.

"We are going to wait and see their findings, but it very hard to appeal normally anyway, because you need fresh evidence etc, and we presented what we thought we had ... and there's no other cases of concussion-related acts or anything, so it's very hard," Robberds said.

"The judiciary had to go off the IRB's sanctions, so their hands were a bit tied in that respect.

"They could have shown discretion with the potential to give him a certain period of his ban as suspended, like 24-weeks of the 48 suspended or whatever. But they chose not to."

Police are investigating the incident, telling Fairfax they were looking into whether the incident went beyond the "implied level of (consent) to physical contact" in a rugby game.

"It's a bit sketchy that bit because there's a few versions," Robberds said.

"I wasn't there but some say Queanbeyan were up in his face getting stuck into him and he punched, others say he punched someone out of the blue.

"He is a bit unsure of what happened with the concussion."

The referee, ACT Rugby Referees Association president Robert Boyes, said the judiciary had to send a message that any action towards a match official is unacceptable.

"I don’t like seeing players get rubbed out of the game, but I don't agree with what happened," he told Fairfax.

"If this is used to send a message to say it’s not acceptable ... every code is against violence on officials."