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Let's concentrate on the facts in Cockers hearing

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The RFU is in danger of opening up a huge can of worms if it finds Richard Cockerill guilty at tonight's disciplinary hearing.

The Leicester Tigers director of rugby faces a charge of "obscene and/or inappropriate and/or unprofessional language or behaviour".

That charge relates to the events in the immediate aftermath of Courtney Lawes' tackle on Toby Flood, in the Premiership final, on May 25.

Angry that the referee had chosen to give a penalty but had not referred it to the TMO for further inspection, Cockerill left his seat to discuss the incident with fourth official, Stuart Terheege, on the touchline.

It is the detail of that discussion that will lead to the outcome of tonight's hearing.

The incident was brought to millions of people's attention by the sight of Cockerill walking down several stairs to talk to Terheege, being shown on big TV screen within the ground – and on ESPN TV.

Cockerill is perfectly within his rights to approach and talk to a fourth official.

A few journalists called for action against Cockerill in the next day's papers. And, it is thought that a few Northampton fans have written to the RFU to demand action.

The key question is – did Cockerill personally abuse Terheege, or was his alleged colourful language spoken in frustration but, crucially, directed at nobody in particular?

If it is the former, then he is likely to face punishment similar to the £2,000 fine and four-week ban he got in 2009 for personally abusing referees at a game against Newport.

If it is the latter, the RFU could be making a rod for their own back if they find Cockerill guilty of acting "inappropriately or unprofessionally".

Whatever your views on whether Cockerill's actions were right or wrong, they are subjective. There are few clear rules set out to gauge levels of "appropriate behaviour" within the sport.

As a result, if Cockerill is found guilty, not for directly abusing a match official, but for what is deemed "inappropriate behaviour", this could be a landmark case. It will basically mean, any club official could get punished at matches next season for simply swearing. Seeing as their case against Cockerill will have taken 37 days to come to light, you would imagine investigations for tonight's hearing would have taken some serious manpower hours.

So Terheege has to be sure that his evidence is spot on.

If he was insulted to such an extent that a director of rugby is going to be fined and/or banned for the start of next season, thus damaging his club's ability to be successful, he has to give an unequivocally clear statement about exactly why he was insulted.

The fact that Cockerill's discussion with Terheege took place in a Grand Final on huge TV screens and during a game where Northampton player Dylan Hartley was sent off for calling the referee a "cheat" should have no baring on the outcome of this case.

So tonight, at the Coventry M6 Holiday Inn, the RFU should ignore the periphery and concentrate solely on the facts of the matter at hand

Let's concentrate on the facts in Cockers hearing


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