A 20-year-old university rugby player has been banned for nine matches – with three suspended – and forced to undertake a racism course after calling an opposition team member a “ch---y s---” during a British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) match.
Joe Cooper of Hartpury University was found guilty of “conduct prejudicial to the interests of the union and the game” by a Rugby Football Union independent disciplinary panel earlier this month after aiming the racial slur at a University of Bristol player during a match in January.
The panel found that because “the highly offensive, racist term was directed towards the player because of his race, this incident was so serious that only a top-end entry point was appropriate. Taking into consideration all the circumstances of the case, the panel concluded that an entry point of 18 matches was appropriate.”
However, in mitigation, that sentence was reduced by 50 per cent, with three matches suspended until the end of the 2025/26 season. The panel highlighted how Cooper had accepted the charge, had a good disciplinary record, was young and inexperienced and had apologised profusely for his conduct. The 20-year-old “must also undertake the Tackling Racism course by the end of April”, the verdict read.
The incident occurred on January 22 and left the victim “in tears”, according to Bristol’s head of rugby. “He was in lots of shock and clearly visibly upset,” they added. “He then repeated to me that he had been called a ‘ch---y s---’. I asked him if he was aware who said it, to which he replied: ‘No, I didn’t see but I know when it was so I might tell from the footage.’ While leaving the field the Hartpury coach apologised to him stating that he would take this very seriously and that he was already investigating the incident to find out who said the remark.”
The victim told the panel: “When the words were said, I didn’t know how to feel. I was in shock as I didn’t expect to hear what I heard, especially in a rugby game. Afterwards, once my adrenalin had passed and the final whistle blew, I was still in so much shock but additionally was visibly feeling upset and hurt. Fortunately, I have a good group of lads around me who were able to comfort me and help me hold my head up. The following day, I was still very surprised those words had been said but I tried to just forget about it to not let it get in the way of my day. However, when it did come across my mind I was still just upset.”
The panel highlighted how Hartpury had held a player-led meeting in the aftermath of the match and, although not involved, Cooper “heard of the event and came forward, admitting responsibility for his actions and using abusive language”.
Hartpury carried out an internal disciplinary process and suspended Cooper, who “apologised wholeheartedly for his conduct which he candidly accepted was utterly inappropriate”, from training and playing for six weeks.
The written judgment outlines how, after the incident, Hartpury held a team meeting to reinforce the expectations of the group and mentions the bystander training, leadership training and code of conduct training carried out by the squad every year. Hartpury also suggested for there to be a restorative meeting between the pair in order to educate Cooper on how this has affected the victim.
The panel added: “Whilst making it clear that they were thoroughly disappointed by [Cooper’s] conduct, representatives from Hartpury did speak in support of him generally and said that this was entirely out of character.”
