Piers Francis cleared to play after citing is dismissed

England centre Piers Francis has been cleared to play following his citing for a dangerous tackle in his side’s win over the USA in Kobe on Thursday.

Francis was cited for a hit on USA full-back Will Hooley which occurred shortly after the kick off of the Rugby World Cup match which England won 45-7, but the offence was not reviewed by the referee Nic Berry.

The player has been cleared of foul play by an independent Judicial Committee and will be available to play when England face Argentina in Tokyo on Saturday.

A World Rugby statement read: “England centre Piers Francis attended a disciplinary hearing on 29 September having been cited for an act of foul play contrary to Law 9.13 (dangerous high tackle) in England’s Rugby World Cup 2019 match against USA on 26 September.

“The independent Judicial Committee was chaired by Nigel Hampton QC (New Zealand), joined by former international coach Frank Hadden (Scotland) and former international player John Langford (Australia).

“The player admitted that he had committed an act of foul play but denied that it reached the red card threshold. Having considered all the angles of the incident, together with evidence from the player and submissions from his legal counsel, the panel determined that the act ought to have resulted in a yellow card on-field. Since the threshold for upholding a citing is ‘red card’, the Committee did not uphold the citing and the player is free to play again immediately.

“The Committee followed the High Tackle Sanction Framework (HTSF) in order to make its decision. The player accepted that it was a high tackle that made contact with the head of the opposition ball carrier. He also accepted that a high degree of danger was present. Following the HTSF, this results in a starting point of a red card. The Committee then considered whether mitigating factors should result in the sanction being decreased.”

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