Japan replacement Yutaro Takahashi, appeared before an independent judicial committee on Monday, 17 July, having received a red card for a dangerous tackle pursuant to Law 9.13 in Japan’s 11th-place play-off against Italy on the final day of the World Rugby U20 Championship 2023 on 14 July.
The independent Disciplinary Committee was chaired by Roddy Dunlop KC (Scotland), joined by former players John Langford (Australia) and Jamie Corsi (Wales).
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 tournament having concluded, the final sanction of three matches will be applied as follows:
- Tsukuba University v Meiji University – 16 August, 2023
- Tsukuba University v Doshishu University – 20 August, 2023
- Tsukuba University v Senshu University – 2 September, 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.
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.