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

After serving a four-week ban for a dangerous tackle during the club’s European Challenge Cup final victory against Lyon, Flanker Sam Underhill will miss the rest of Bath’s season.

In the 26th minute, Underhill collided head-on-head with Lyon full-back Davit Niniashvili, and he received a yellow card.

An independent panel upheld the complaint that it warranted a red card and gave the England international a Monday citation for the incident.

Bath’s Saturday game against Saracens and their Premiership semi-final on Friday, June 6 will miss Underhill.

Before the collision, which was deemed a mitigating factor, the incident was downgraded from red to yellow, the tackle was reviewed by referee Hollie Davidson and the television match officials during the game.

Underhill admitted to doing it but did not think it was appropriate for him to receive a red card at a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday.

Due to Underhill’s regrets, the committee downgraded it to four and determined it was a mid-range offence that required a six-week ban. Due to his previous experiences, they were unable to further reduce it.

Following Davidson’s dismissal in Bath’s Challenge Cup round of 16 victory against Pau in April, the 28-year-old received a three-week ban in April.