HAWICK have banned coach Jim Hay from the touchline for three months – starting with tomorrow's crunch home clash against Heriot's.
And the former Scotland international has been prohibited from speaking to referees or the press for the 90-day period.
Coach Derek Armstrong has also been banned from speaking to referees or the press.
The measures have been taken after commen
ts the pair made to referee Colin Brett following the last home match against Watsonians.
It also includes remarks made to the national media at the end of the
game.
An official complaint was made to the Scottish Rugby Union, which prompted the drastic action at Mansfield Park this week.
A spokesperson for Hawick RFC said: "We received a report from the SRU about an incident at the end of the game against Watsonians relating to Jim Hay and Derek Armstrong.
Jim Hay
"We met on Tuesday night and have taken action that will see Jim given a touchline ban up until the end of February.
"Derek Armstrong has been given a verbal reprimand and both are not allowed to speak to the referee or the press during the three-month period.
"It is now up to the SRU to decide whether they think this is appropriate."
The match in question ended in controversy when Brett awarded Watsonians a late try, despite the scorer appearing to be in an offside position.
The subsequent conversion levelled the scores, and robbed Hawick of precious points in their fight against relegation.
On the final whistle, a furious Hay said: "We didn't get the break, and when you need a break, you've got an absolute joker in the middle, who was just mystifying . . . He hadn't a clue what was going on at scrum time. They're ruining the game."
Players were informed about the measures last night at training and it is understood Hay has accepted his punishment from the club, although he strenuously denies using foul language when he spoke to the official.
This is not the first time Hay has fallen foul of officialdom at the SRU. He has been up in front of the disciplinary panel before, with previous punishments including a four-week touchline ban from the SRU.
The news comes at the worst possible time for the Greens who are staring into the abyss in Premiership Division One, with only two wins in the first half of the season.
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