Mike Brown loses appeal against six-week ban for stamping

Mike Brown will not be getting a final farewell at Harlequins after an independent panel rejected his appeal against a six-week ban for stamping.

At his original hearing on May 11 brought for a stamp on Wasps hooker Tommy Taylor, Brown had accepted a charge for stamping but decided to appeal against the length of the ban in the hope of playing again this season.

Quins’ record appearances holder will leave the club after 16 years this summer to join Newcastle Falcons, after failing to agree an extension at the Stoop.

The decision by the appeal panel to uphold the length of the ban precludes Brown from Harlequins three remaining Premiership matches and the knockout stages of the season, should they progress all the way to a first final since 2012.

Following the hearing on Wednesday evening, a statement by the panel read: “The appeal was dismissed. The Appeal Panel did not accept the submissions that the Disciplinary Panel had come to a decision to which no reasonable body could have come, particularly bearing in mind that the burden is on the player to establish on the balance of probabilities that no reasonable Disciplinary Panel could have come to the same conclusion.

“The original sanction stands.”

Red for Mike Brown and that could be the end of his Quins career. pic.twitter.com/i9UnPY1V9o

— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) May 9, 2021

The dismissal was the first red card of Brown’s 16-year career and because of his unblemished disciplinary record and guilty plea, the ban was reduced to six weeks.

A Harlequins statement said: “The club will continue to work with and support Mike throughout the remainder of his time as a Harlequin before he leaves this summer to join Newcastle Falcons.”