Namibia player PJ van Lill and Southern Kings player Thembelani Bholi each received a red card for acts of foul play contrary to Law 9.12 (striking with the arm) during Namibia’s Rugby World Cup 2019 warm-up match against Southern Kings on 7 September, 2019.

With red cards triggering a judicial hearing, the case was heard by Chair Bongai Zamchiya (Zimbabwe) with Sarah Smith (former Scotland international) and Val Toma (former Romanian referee).

Both players admitted they had committed acts of foul play worthy of a red card. The panel imposed the mandatory mid-range entry point sanction for contact with the head, resulting in a starting sanction of six weeks. Taking into account the fact that both players admitted the acts and had clean disciplinary records, both players’ sanctions were reduced by 50 per cent, taking the final sanction to three weeks for each player.

Thembelani Bholi will miss the Southern Kings’ next three matches, being free to play again on 13 October, 2019.

PJ van Lill will miss Namibia’s first three matches at Rugby World Cup 2019 and is free to play again on 7 October, 2019.

Each player may appeal the decision within 48 hours of receiving the full written decision.

The full written decisions will be available here.