ROSS Ford and Jonny Gray have both been suspended for three weeks following a Rugby World Cup disciplinary hearing. The two Scotland forwards have 48 hours in which to appeal, but as things stand they will miss the rest of the tournament.
Last night a spokesperson for the team said that the judgement would be considered carefully before a decision whether to appeal was made. “We are disappointed by the outcome of today’s disciplinary hearing, and subsequent suspension of Ross Ford and Jonny Gray,” the spokesperson said. “We will consider carefully the full written judgement of Judicial Officer Christopher Quinlan QC before making a decision on any future action.”
The sentence was harsher than virtually anyone had expected, and it therefore seems certain that Scotland will appeal. Any appeal hearing will take place in time for the players, if cleared, to play in the quarter-final against Australia on Sunday.
The two forwards were cited by Scott Nowland, the independent citing commissioner from Australia, for an alleged act of foul play against a Samoan opponent in the Pool B match between the teams last Saturday. They appeared in front of a judicial hearing in London on Tuesday morning, and were accompanied by Gavin Scott, the team manager, and Bruce Caldow, Scottish Rugby’s lawyer. Quinlan, an English QC, heard the case.
The suspension - for a dangerous tackle in which both men tried to clear Jack Lam of Samoa out of a ruck - was originally four weeks, after the offence was deemed to be at a “low-end entry point” for the breach of Law 10.4(j). It was then upped to five weeks because of what was deemed to be aggravation “due to the need to deter this kind of dangerous play”, according to a Rugby World Cup statement, but then reduced to three because of mitigating factors such as the players’ previous records.
Ireland’s Sean O’Brien has been banned for one week after he admitted committing an act of foul play in his team’s win against France. He will miss his team’s quarter-final against Argentina, unless an appeal succeeds, but will be available for the semi-final if they get through.
O’Brien was cited by independent Citing Commissioner Dougie Hunter of Scotland under Law 10.4(a) for “striking with the hand, arm or fist”. The independent Judicial Officer Terry Willis (Australia) upheld the citing, and, according to the official RWC statement, “deemed the act of foul play merited a low-end entry point of two weeks. The Judicial Officer considered that there were no aggravating factors. The Judicial Officer took into account compelling mitigating factors including O’Brien’s conduct prior to and at the hearing, his remorse, good character and clean disciplinary record, and reduced the suspension to a period of one week.”
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