After seeing red for his verbal tiradeÂ*(and subsequent post-match actions) against referee Romain Poite earlier this month, Oyonnax's Silvère Tian probably thought things couldn't get any worse. But they have. The Ivory Coast-born full back has been banned for 14 months after a disciplinary hearing [French] found him in contravention of Article 65 (no person, player or otherwise, on or off the field of play should bring the game into disrepute) of the Ligue National de Rugby (LNR) regulations. His ban will run until the end of June 2017, which coincides with the expiration of his current contract with the club. At the age of 35 currently, it remains to be seen whether this contract is extended beyond next summer by the club. Oyonnax have also copped a €10,000 fine for Tian's actions. But it appears that Tian may have got off lightly. According to LNR's regulations, Tian's possible suspensions could have ranged from a minimum of six weeks for "verbal abuse" but to a maximum of five years for "verbal and physical threats towards a match official." Tian may well have paid for his moment of madness with his career, a fact that is particularly poignant especially after having scored a wonder try to put his side in the lead earlier in the same match. In an interview after the match he said: "I went to apologise to the referee. Perhaps because I wanted this victory so much because it was really important for us, that suddenly I got angry. "There was no need to get so angry because there were a lot of kids watching, and the other spectators as well. So my reaction, as a professional player was not a good one." Original post and discussion » You can view the short interview and the incident below. Do you agree with the length of the ban?

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