Long ban for Rizzoli

ROOKIE Italian prop Luca Rizzoli’s World Cup hopes have been dashed by a nine-match ban for ‘physical abuse’ in last week’s defeat to Cardiff.

Rizzoli, 20, had been enjoying a breakthrough season with Zebre and was named in Kieran Crowley’s Six Nations squad. But his ambition to challenge for a World Cup spot has been halted for an incident that contravened law 9.12 – physical abuse. Officials have not specified what exactly took place but it merited a sanction of 18 games, reduced to nine on mitigation.