Treviso coach hit by nine-week ban after ‘reckless’ pen use in rugby brawl

As Sean Connery said in an Untouchables out-take, 'Dumb son of a bitch, bringing a knife to a pen-fight'

Giorgio Intoppa, Benetton Treviso's strength and conditioning coach, has been ordered away from all forms of rugby after he recklessly waded into a Guinness PRO12 barney with a pen-in-hand. Lid off. Intoppa, capped seven times by Italy during his playing career, was hit with the suspension by the league's disciplinary committee after his role in a December 19, 2014, scrap between Treviso and Edinburgh Rugby (players and staff).

The charge faced was: 'Mr Intoppa had, with a pen, made contact with or close to the eye of an Edinburgh player during a mass brawl which had spilled off the field and into, and over, the crowd barriers at Murrayfield.'

The committee listened to evidence from the former Italy hooker, the game's disciplinary officer and viewed written and video evidence, including oral evidence from two Edinburgh players involved.

The committee upheld the misconduct complaint but found Intoppa's pen-wielding antics 'had been reckless rather than intentional'. They reasoned that the S&C coach should have known his actions could have caused injury to another person or persons.

He has been suspended from all rugby activity until March 15 and was ordered to pay costs.