Five Spain players banned for up to 43 weeks for physically and verbally abusing referee after Belgium defeat

Sebastian Rouet was handed a 43-week ban with four other Spanish players suspended for confronting Romanian referee Vlad Iordachescu

Rugby Europe has handed out bans to five Spain players who confronted a referee at the end of their shock defeat by Belgium in a Rugby World Cup qualifying match last month, the longest being a 43-week suspension handed to scum-half Sebastien Rouet.

The players were angered by the performance of Romanian referee Vlad Iordachescu after the 18-10 defeat in Brussels allowed Romania to qualify for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan at Spain's expense.

Rouet was handed the longest ban of 43 weeks for physical and verbal abuse of the match official, the independent judicial committee appointed by Rugby Europe said in a statement.

Fellow scrum-half Guillaume Rouet was banned for 36 weeks for the same charges. Flankers Pierre Barthere and Lucas Guillaume, as well as fly-half Mathieu Belie, all received 14-week bans for using threatening actions and words at a match official.

All five players have been given seven days to appeal, with the suspensions being implemented with immediate effect.

A misconduct complaint against the Spanish Rugby Union will be heard at a later date, the statement added.

Iordachescu was confronted by a number of Spanish players who were unhappy with his performance (YouTube)

World Rugby said earlier this month that it would convene an independent disputes panel to review the match.

Spain must now beat Portugal to earn a two-legged playoff against Samoa for a place at the World Cup.

Reuters