Attwood apologises to Saints centre Dingwall as Bath lock is banned for three weeks

Atwood will miss three matches in total, one of which, extraordinarily, includes the recently-arranged fixture against the Barbarians. He will also be absent for league games against Newcastle and Leicester.

The case was heard on Tuesday evening by an independent disciplinary panel chaired by Martin Picton, sitting with Alastair Campbell and Mitch Read.

The full written judgement, which can be read here, includes details of the incident, as follows...

Bath are attacking on the Nor 5 metre line. Bath 12 (Cam Redpath) takes a pass and goes into contact. He is tackled by Nor 2 (Sam Matavesi) and Nor 12 (Dingwall). Nor 12 pulls him to ground and ends up on the wrong side of the tackle. Bath 4 (Atwood) then arrives at the tackle to try and clear him out of the way. Nor 12 is on the ground and Bath 4 is on his feet. Bath 4 then strikes Nor 12 on the back of his head with his forearm and forces Nor 12s face into the ground. He then strikes Nor 12 a second time in his head with his right forearm. The referee (Anthony Woodthorpe) is playing advantage and blows his whistle. There is a reaction from 3 Nor players to this incident. Nor 2 pulls Bath 4 off his feet. Nor 5 (David Ribbans) jumps onto the back of Bath 4 and Nor 13 (Matt Proctor) runs in from approximately 10 metres away and also jumps on Bath 4. Nor 12 gets up and goes immediately over to the referee. He shouts to the referee 'he has f******* slammed my head into the floor'. The TMO (Stuart Terheege) has a look at the incident informally but doesn't see any clear footage to bring it to the attention of the referee. The incident was not formally reviewed by the referee team. The video of the incident is consistent with the report."

Attwood's version of events is also given, and the Bath forward detailed how he texted Dingwall on the night of the game to apologise.

In his text message to Dingwall, Attwood wrote: “Hey Dude, tough shift today. I'm sorry for losing my s***. I crossed a line and I’m not proud of it. I would have reacted worse if it was me. I’m Sorry. I’m a better person than that and today I wasn’t. Good luck for the rest of the season. Will see you at your place in the New Year."

Dingwall replied: “All Good Mate - as I said (on the pitch), I get it and it would have just happened in the heat of the moment. I do really appreciate the message and could tell you regretted it soon after anyway but don’t worry, I’m not holding any grudges…. see you at our place."

Attwood stressed his remorse further in his summary of events.

He said: "While I am unfortunately not (in rugby terms) youthful and inexperienced, I have worked hard to maintain an exceptionally high disciplinary record throughout my career. I was banned in 2011 for recklessly stamping, but with that aside, I have maintained a career over 17 years of at the top of professional rugby with that being the only real blemish.

"I have and do readily admit that my conduct fell greatly below the standards required by the RFU but also far below the high standards I hold for myself.

"Instead of celebrating the first win of the season with my team mates, I spent the evening apologising to my team mates and coaches and family.

"I have taken an interest in supporting other players with disciplinary issues over the past 3/4 season and have appeared in front of many panels discussing these matters, and I am embarrassed to be here representing myself and my own poor conduct.

"I am held in high regard by most, if not all, referees as someone who has good communication skills, good emotional control and a good understanding of the laws of the game. Despite being someone renowned for physicality, I have thus far managed to ensure that always remained on the right side of the law and I am sorry to have breached that commitment."

It was recognised that Attwood should have been sent off on the day and the incident was placed in the mid-range section in terms of seriousness.

Attwood's 'admission, remorse and playing record' was taken into account, meaning his ban was reduced from six weeks to three.