Australia front-row Marley Pearce appeared before an independent judicial committee on Tuesday, 27 June, having received a red card in Australia’s Pool B match against Fiji at the World Rugby U20 Championship 2023 on 24 June. The red card was awarded pursuant to Law 9.13 (dangerous tackle).
The independent Disciplinary Committee was chaired by Jennifer Donovan (Ireland), joined by former international player Ofisa Tonu’u (New Zealand) and former international referee Valeriu Toma (Romania).
The Committee, having considered the player’s submissions and reviewed all available evidence, found that the red card threshold had been met. The Committee noted that the offence carries a mandatory mid-range sanction (six matches) and having considered the mitigating factors reduced the sanction by the maximum mitigation of 50 per cent. The player is suspended for the following matches:
- Australia v Ireland – 29 June, 2023
- Australia v England – 4 July, 2023
- Australia’s match in round four of the World Rugby U20 Championship – 9 July, 2023*
* The player intends to apply to take part in the World Rugby Coaching Intervention Programme to substitute the final match of the sanction for a coaching intervention aimed at modifying specific techniques and technical issues that contributed to the foul play. Further information can be found here.
The player has the right of appeal within 48 hours of the issuing of the full written decision, which will appear here once published.
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Visit World Rugby’s dedicated disciplinary process education and information page here.