Cheika was 'overly aggressive with intense eye contact'

Michael Cheika's behaviour has been described as "overly aggressive with intense eye contact" in a written judgement after he was found guilty of disrespecting an independent match-day doctor and given a two-week suspension.

Leicester hit out at the Rugby Football Union after their head coach Cheika’s ban, expressing "dissatisfaction" with an independent disciplinary panel’s finding that he was disrespectful, and they could now appeal.

Australian Cheika is banned for Tigers’ Gallagher Premiership match against Newcastle on Saturday, with one week of the ban suspended until the end of the season.

The 57-year-old former Leinster boss was charged with disrespecting the match-day doctor following his first competitive game in charge of the club, a 17-14 win over Exeter on 21 September.

Former Australia and Argentina coach Cheika, who joined Leicester this summer, appeared before an independent disciplinary panel on Tuesday evening.

The panel’s written judgement revealed that Cheika went to the medical room after the match at Sandy Park and asked why Tigers forward Ollie Chessum had been assessed as an immediate permanent removal during the game.

The IMDD (independent match-day doctor) explained to Cheika that Chessum should not have been returned to play after initially going off for a head injury assessment.

"As time went on, for minutes, Mr Cheika was overly aggressive, with intense eye contact, crossed arms. He was dismissive and harsh speaking," the judgement read.

Ollie Chessum after the game

"At one stage the IMDD said to Mr Cheika he was being rude and aggressive and was standing too close to him and that his behaviour was not acceptable.

"Mr Cheika’s response was to say he was taller than the IMDD and asked whether he should stand back. In the IMDD’s opinion Mr Cheika was being rather rude and confrontational, and overly aggressive in his body language and voice."

Chessum, incorrectly, had been allowed to rejoin the action by Leicester’s team doctor, and he was then removed by the independent doctor.

A hectic situation had seen Tigers centre Solomone Kata and Chessum receiving HIAs at the same time.

Cheika, meanwhile, told the hearing in a statement that he felt the IMDD was "being passive-aggressive".

The episode between Cheika and the IMDD lasted for five minutes, and the panel said: "No independent match-day doctor should be subject to five minutes of disagreement about a decision that he was entitled to take and had taken.

"Had this exchange taken place in the sight of the referee undoubtedly it would have attracted a red card".

The panel decided that while Cheika disrespected the doctor, they found insufficient evidence that he had intimidated him.

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