The Springbok lock will be available for the Springboks for their clash against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday night.
A World Rugby disciplinary committee rescinded Franco Mostert’s red card against Italy on Tuesday evening.
He received the red card for a dangerous tackle on flyhalf Paolo Garbisi in the 12th minute of the Springboks’ 32-14 win in Turin last weekend.
There was no obvious head contact, and plenty of mitigation. However, referee James Doleman, his assistants and the TMO decided to give the player a permanent red card.
The committee, chaired by Stephen Hardy of Australia and joinined by former players Ofisa Tonu’u of New Zealand and Jamie Corsi of Wales, found the match officials had erred in issuing the card.
They downgraded the red card to a yellow, making Mostert available for selection for the Springboks’ clash against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday (kick-off 7.40pm).
“Having conducted a detailed review of all available evidence, including all camera angles and additional evidence and submissions made by and on behalf of the player, the disciplinary committee determined that although there had been head contact and an act of foul play occurring within the incident, the offending did not reach the red card threshold,” a World Rugby statement read.
“Rather, the evidence established that the initial contact made by the player was directly to the shoulder of Italy 10 with there being ‘daylight’ between the shoulder contact and head/neck area of Italy 10. Head contact was then found to have occurred, but was found to be secondary to the initial shoulder contact and made with much lower force and without the requisite level of ‘danger’ required under World Rugby’s Head Contact Process to make the offending reach the rd card threshold.”
The red card was dismissed and expunged from Mostert’s disciplinary record.
Boks don’t feel fairly treated
Lood De Jager’s ban remained, however, for his no-arms tackle during South Africa’s 32-17 win over France in Paris the week before. He had three matches left of his four-game ban.
After Ireland, the Springboks play only one more fixture against Wales before their season comes to an end.
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Assistant coach Mzwandile Stick admitted that the team felt a massive sense of injustice over the permanent red cards handed out to the two players.
“As a team, we’re just disappointed with how things are,” he said.
“At the moment, week after week, we’re losing players. It’s sad that everyone was looking forward to the Italy game, and for it to turn out the way it did is just disappointing.
“If you look at Franco Mostert’s actions, and even those of Lood de Jager the previous week, they’ve done everything by the book. The only mistake is that maybe the contact was high and near the head. But I don’t understand how that becomes a permanent (red card).
