In the rucks, crazy stuff happens. Actually, in a rugby game, when emotions get the best of people, crazy stuff happens all over the field. One such person is 21-year old Northampton hooker Dylan Hartley. Hartley and his club are currently appealing a six month suspension, that almost seems light considering what he is being accused of:

Northampton say they will appeal against the six-month ban handed out to hooker Dylan Hartley for eye-gouging two Wasps forwards earlier this month.

Hartley was cited by an independent match commissioner for making contact with the eye areas of Jonny O’Connor, Joe Worsley and James Haskell during his side’s 35-29 defeat at Adams Park.

I can understand maybe appealing if it happened once.. hell, maybe even twice in a game. But if your fingers find their way into three different players’ eye sockets you are standing on some pretty loose turf there. He did actually get off on one of the eye gouging charges because the panel were big fans of the Three Stooges, but not that big of fans and two held up and he was found to be guilty, so I guess the argument becomes whether six months is much too long for someone who was only trying to blind his opponents for life. It’s not like he was biting ears, right?

Hartley’s suspension is believed to be the longest dished out to a top-flight England player since former Bath prop Kevin Yates received a six-month ban after being found guilty of ear-biting in 1998.

Ah yes, there we are. Can’t have eye gougers and ear biters thrown into the same category, that would be a travesty. Actually, the real reason behind the appeal is probably to get him on England’s Wold Cup team this summer. Eye gouging for Queen and country, right?

• Saints appeal against Hartley ban (BBC Sport)