Cheika accused doctor of being 'passive-aggressive'

Leicester boss Michael Cheika accused an independent matchday doctor of being "passive-aggressive" towards him in a five-minute row after their opening-weekend win over Exeter.

Chieka received a one-match ban for "disrespecting" the medic in his first game in charge of the Premiership side.

The argument arose after Leicester forward Ollie Chessum was wrongly allowed to return to the field of play by their team doctor following a head collision - but was subsequently removed by the independent doctor.

It was a situation complicated by Chessum's team-mate Solomone Kata receiving an assessment at the same time and technical issues with an app used to log medical checks.

Cheika told a Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel of his frustration with the independent doctor.

"I could tell he had a problem with me. I told him as much and told him I believed he was being passive-aggressive," Cheika said.

Cheika accepted that he had raised his voice during the exchange and, at one point, moved back in an exaggerated way after the doctor accused the Australian of towering over him.

The doctor said he felt "quite shocked" and "a little bit shaken" by Cheika's "rude and aggressive" demeanour.

"No independent matchday doctor should be subject to five minutes of disagreement about a decision that he was entitled to take and had taken," concluded the RFU panel.

"Had this exchange taken place in the sight of the referee undoubtedly it would have attracted a red card."

While the panel concluded Cheika had disrespected the matchday doctor, it said that there was not enough evidence to conclude he had intimidated him.

Cheika, who took charge at the club over the summer, is set to serve his one-match suspension during Saturday's match away to Newcastle, although Leicester will consider an appeal on Friday when they have had time to analyse the reasons behind the verdict.

Chessum missed Leicester's second-round defeat by Bath as he served a mandatory 12-day stand-down period for failing a head injury assessment.