Azam loses appeal

Gloucester hooker Olivier Azam has paid the price for a poor disciplinary record after failing in his appeal against a 12-week ban for kicking England captain Steve Borthwick.

Azam was technically successful in arguing that the offence, for which he pleaded guilty last week, was mid-range in its severity and therefore only deserved a punishment of eight weeks.

But the Rugby Football Union's appeals panel upheld the original 12-week suspension after taking Azam's track record into account.

The former France international had only just returned from a nine-week ban for eye-gouging when he clashed with Borthwick in Gloucester's Guinness Premiership defeat at Saracens on September 27.

The original disciplinary panel concluded Azam was guilty of a top-end offence worthy of a 16-week ban but reduced to 12 weeks after taking mitigating circumstances into account.

The appeals panel accepted Azam only deserved eight weeks for the kick - but then added on six weeks for his previous record, taking the total to 14 weeks.

Azam then had two weeks knocked off in recognition of his guilty plea and other mitigating factors - meaning he remains banned for 12 weeks.

As a result, Azam is unavailable for Gloucester until their first Guinness Premiership fixture of 2010, against Worcester on January 2.