AN amateur rugby union player facing a charge of causing grievous bodily harm has denied punching an opponent during a match.

Open-side flanker Fabrizio Leone-Mazza is alleged to have punched opposite number Samuel Hopton, 18, in the face.

But he told Bradford Crown Court he thought Mr Hopton left the field because of a “tactical substitution”.

The court was told the incident happened in the second half of a closely-fought encounter between Huddersfield YMCA seconds and West Park thirds back in December 2010.

Mr Hopton, who was playing for the visiting Leeds-based side, was substituted and later treated in hospital after suffering two fractures to his jaw.

But 26-year-old Leone-Mazza insisted to a jury at Bradford Crown Court that he had not punched his rival.

Leone-Mazza, of Southgate, Elland, told the court that it had been a good, hard match and when Mr Hopton went off he thought it was simply a “tactical substitution”.