Mercer red card, given by Irish officials, overturned

England international Zach Mercer has had the red card shown to him during Montpellier's Heineken Champions Cup game against Exeter dismissed.

The Montpellier number 8 was sent off by Irish referee Andrew Brace, with Irish official Joy Neville on TMO duties, early in the second-half at Sandy Park for a dangerous tackle on Exeter forward Christ Tshiunza.

Montpellier lost the round-of-16 tie on try-count after the game finished 33-33 after extra-time.

"An independent disciplinary committee viewed footage of the incident and heard evidence by video conference from Mercer, who accepted that he had committed an act of foul play but did not accept that it warranted a red card," tournament organiser European Professional Club Rugby said.

"The committee decided that although Mercer had committed an act of foul play, the tackle did not warrant a red card. The sending off was therefore dismissed and Mercer is free to play."

Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

We need your consent to load this YouTube content We use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preferences

Watch Leinster v Leicester Tigers in the Heineken Champions Cup on Good Friday night on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1