Leo Cullen reckons Garry Ringrose was unlucky to have been red-carded against Wales and cited Jack Boyle's involvement for Leinster against Cardiff as an example of why the Ireland centre’s ban included the URC fixture.
Ringrose was handed a three-match suspension following his sending off in round three of the Guinness Six Nations last weekend.
The ban was reduced from six weeks due to the player’s previous good record, remorse, good conduct and guilty plea.
In addition, the final game of the ban, Ireland’s round-five meeting with Italy in Rome can be substituted should the 30-year-old complete World Rugby’s coaching intervention programme, commonly known as 'tackle school’.
The first two games of the sanction were today’s 42-24 win for Leinster over Cardiff and next Saturday’s championship clash with France.
Les Bleus out-half Romain Ntamack, who was sent off against Wales in round one for a dangerous tackle, also on Thomas, had initially tried to have a Top14 game for club Toulouse included in his ban but that was subsequently shot down by the disciplinary committee.
Ringrose, who played the full match against England, and 23 and 32 minutes against Scotland and Wales, respectively, may have been released back to Leinster by the IRFU, as prop Boyle was following his Test debut in Cardiff, insisted Cullen.
"So he's available for us this weekend.
"Just like Jack Boyle obviously played in the same game where Garry got banned, so Jack Boyle is playing in the game.
"Just because [he was in] the 23 for Ireland in that week, it doesn't mean [he can't play], players obviously get released back all the time.
"Jack Boyle would be a good example of someone who was released back to us.
"Garry, because of the red card...he could have been available for us this week because, what's the conversation there, as in if Garry gets off, he available for selection for us this week so we've obviously got that choice.
"As in, the Irish management, essentially, have that choice whether they want to release him back to us."
Ringrose received the first red card of his career following a bunker review for his challenge on Thomas.
In Thursday’s hearing, Ringrose entered a guilty plea for the charge that the head contact was "reckless".
Cullen (above) added: "I'm looking at the red card, and I know there's lot of commentary about it but in terms of mitigation, if you look where Garry's knee is, pretty much on the ground when the contact is made, and there's quite a late change from the ball-carrier.
"My understanding is there's mitigation there, so that goes from red down to yellow.
"Is there a bit more harshness to a red card because it's only a 20-minute red card?
"Again, I don't know the psychology of some of the decision-making that takes place there.
"But I think if you got a bunch of coaches there to analyse that specific moment, a lot of them would think there's enough mitigation to go from red to a yellow.
"It's still a penalty and yellow-card offence, so it's still a foul, but I don't think it's a red-card offence."
It was put to Cullen that the Dubliner accepted it was red and still has to attend ‘tackle school’
"Yeah, I don't know exactly how that has played out, in terms of, it's sort of like we put our hand up as in we've done something wrong here," he added.
"It's up to the...in terms of the law-makers...and there can be disconnect, as we know, between the citing and the disciplinary process in terms of what's being decided by World Rugby essentially as what is a red card and what's a yellow card.
"We've been in lots of these coach-referee [meetings], even broadcasters are involved in this piece as well, and a clip would come up, not specific to this clip and everyone's got their buttons: 'what is it? Is it red, yellow, is it play on?' and there is always this discrepancy of what people perceive as a red card.
"That's the thing about what people can latch onto post a game.
"Is the pundit fully informed 'cos they can shape the viewers, which shapes the opinion of the masses but that not necessarily the right opinion. Sometimes it is, sometimes it's not.
"Basically, on this, we're talking about a specific example, and someone will go, 'well, Leo's talking absolute nonsense here', but I think there's mitigation from a red down to a yellow due to the factors that I am seeing.
"And I think there's other coaches that I've talked to that would say the same.
"Obviously, there's the Shape of the Game [forum] that's on in London during the course of this week.
"The more I'm hearing back from there, I think that’s Garry is unlucky with a red card there, but unfortunately once it's in the judiciary process there's other bits at play there.
"I'm trying to be open and honest."
Meanwhile, Cullen was pleased with his team’s response to an underwhelming win over Ospreys in the previous round.
He handed debuts to Ivan Soroka and Oliver Coffey, and fielded a number of players with just a handful of senior appearances as they pushed on from a tight first-half to claim a bonus-point win, scoring 14 points when the visitors had Alex Mann in the sin-bin.
"We were all very excited about today after the frustration of the last day against Ospreys," said the former Ireland lock, whose side next face a trip to South Africa to play Bulls and Sharks.
"We have players like Jack Boyle out there and he is an Ireland international and we want to see him play like an international.
Full-time - Leinster 42-24 Cardiff: Rob Russell makes a welcome return from injury to round off the scoring for Leinster who claim an 18-point win. #RTEsport pic.twitter.com/PH7axb8bj2
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) March 1, 2025
"We had lots of possession in the first-half and Cardiff were resolute in their defence, we were loose in a couple of kicks and we got punished.
"We scored before half-time and then early in the second-half and there was the yellow card and that helped us."
