Canada second-row Laetitia Royer appeared before an independent judicial committee via video link having received a red card as a result of a combination of two yellow cards in Canada’s international match against USA in the World Rugby Pacific Four Series on 5 November, 2021. One yellow card was awarded for an offence pursuant to Law 9.8 (repeated team offences) and the second for an act of foul play contrary to Law 9.13 (dangerous tackle).

The independent Disciplinary Committee chaired by Juan Pablo Tafernaberry Elorza (Uruguay), joined by former international referee Donal Courtney (Ireland) and former international player Martyn Wood (England), heard the case.

The player accepted that she had committed both the technical breach and the act of foul play and accepted that both offences were worthy of yellow cards. Therefore, the combination of the two yellow cards resulted in the player’s ordering off.

Having considered the matter, the committee decided that the ordering off was sufficient and that no further sanction was necessary.

Click here to watch the video that explains how rugby’s disciplinary process works.

Visit World Rugby’s dedicated disciplinary process education and information page here.

World Rugby is managing the communications for all matches in the November test window. Please contact media@worldrugby.org for further information.