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It is too little too late for the USA as Tonga’s Paula Ngauamo is banned. The starting hooker committed foul play in Tonga’s win against the USA on Sunday only for it not to be picked up by referee Nigel Owens or his assistant officials staff.
Ngauamo was cited for an act of foul play contrary to Law 9.12 (kicking) in the Pool C match and admitted to the judiciary that he had kicked his opponent in the face and accepted this was at least mid-range offending as he had made contact with his opponent’s head.
The independent Judicial Committee consisted of Alan Hudson (Canada), former international player Stefan Terblanche (South Africa) and former referee Valeriu Toma (Romania).
The committee agreed and applied World Rugby’s mandatory minimum mid-range entry point, which was introduced in 2017 to protect player welfare, deter high contact and prevent head injuries. This resulted in a starting point of an eight-week suspension. It was reduced to a sanction of seven weeks.
It is too little too late for the USA. Had it been spotted and dealt with at the time then Tonga would have been playing with 14-men against the USA. Instead Ngauamo played 75 minutes of the match in Osaka.
