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Rugby World Cup 2023 has come to an early end for Eric Dosantos. The Uruguayan flanker has been suspended for foul play against Namibia in Lyon on Wednesday. Dosantos received a late yellow card for a tackle which initially saw him cited and subsequently suspended.
Dosantos’ tackle was deemed foul play contrary to Law 9.13 (dangerous tackle). The independent Disciplinary Committee consisted of Jennifer Donovan (Ireland), Stefan Terblanche (South Africa) and Val Toma (Romania).
Dosantos accepted that there had been head contact, that he was upright in the tackle and that he had committed foul play which included a high degree of danger and met the red card threshold. However, Dosantos submitted that mitigation should be applied because he was attempting to effect a passive tackle as opposed to a forceful tackle.
The independent Committee determined that denied his submission for mitigation. Their outcome noted:
- A reckless act of foul play had occurred
- Head contact had occurred
- The degree of danger was high
- There had been forwards and upwards movement of the player into the tackle and on balance the tackle could therefore not be considered to be passive
- The citing was therefore not wrong and was upheld.
On that basis and in considering the sanction, the independent Committee applied World Rugby’s mandatory minimum mid-range entry point for foul play resulting in head contact (six matches). Taking all considerations into account, including the player’s disciplinary record, the independent Committee determined mitigation of three matches was appropriate, resulting in a final sanction of three matches.
The three matches will be Uruguay’s remaining Rugby World Cup 2023 fixture and two club matches for Lobos. As such, Dosantos will miss Uruguay’s match against New Zealand on October 05 in Lyon.
