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England’s Piers Francis has been cited for a missed red card. The inside center was not sanctioned during the match for an act of foul play contrary to Law 9.13 (dangerous high tackle) in Thursday’s match against the USA.
The citing is bitter-sweet for the USA. It happened immediately after kick-off with the English inside center completing the tackle on fullback Will Hooley. Had it been officiated at the time by the officials then England would have played all 80 minutes of the match with 14-men.
England went on tho complete a comfortable win while the USA would lose a player of their own in the second half. John Quill was red carded for breaching the same law. His suspension of three matches means he is out of the RWC.
A similar fate may now await Piers Francis. The player will attend a hearing before an independent Judicial Committee chaired by Nigel Hampton QC (New Zealand), joined by former Scotland Head Coach Frank Hadden, and former international player John Langford (Australia).
The hearing will take place in Tokyo on a date to be agreed with the player and his representatives. Of note is this is the fourth missed offense by referees, assistant referees, and TMOs at RWC 2019. The first saw Australia’s Reece Hodge subsequently suspended for three matches while Samoa’s Motu Matu’u was also suspended for three weeks after also not having been red carded in Tuesday’s match against Russia.
