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Two incidents of foul play identified by World Rugby but it's of no consolation to Fiji
By Tom Vinicombe
The World Cup has been marred by a number of acts of foul play that have as of yet gone unpunished.
In Friday night's opening match between hosts Japan and underdogs Russia, Brave Blossoms lock James Moore looked to have made contact with Russian halfback Vasily Dorofeev's head with his upper arm. The incident went unnoticed by the referees.
In Saturday's first game, between Fiji and Australia, Peceli Yato had to leave the field with a concussion after Wallabies wing Reece Hodge used his shoulder to help bring the big Fijian flanker to ground. Again, no action was taken on the field - however, the incident was supposedly checked by the TMO.
One act of foul play that went unnoticed by the masses involved Argentina winger Matias Moroni allegedly pulling on the hair of a French player in Saturday's second fixture.
Under the current regime, acts of foul play must be cited within 36 hours of the end of a game - which means that Moore has escaped any punishment for his dangerous tackle against Russia.
The latter two cases, however, are now being dealt with by World Rugby.
Rugby's governing body today put out two separate statements regarding the incidents.
Moroni has been issued with a Citing Commissioner Warning.
"The CCW will remain on the player’s record to be dealt with in the event that the player accumulates three yellow cards and/or Citing Commissioner Warnings during the tournament," World Rugby's statement read.
Unlike Moroni, Hodge will face a disciplinary hearing.
"Australia winger Reece Hodge has been cited by John Montgomery (Scotland) for an act of foul play contrary to Law 9.13 (dangerous tackle) in the 25th minute of Australia’s Rugby World Cup 2019 Pool D match against Fiji on 21 September," said the statement.
The time and date is yet to be set for Hodge's hearing, however it will likely take place well in advance of Australia's next match, against Wales on September 29th.
Even if Hodge does receive a ban, it will be of no consolation to Fiji, who led their match with Australia 21-12 shortly after halftime. The Wallabies ultimately won the game 39-21.
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Latest Comments
Yeah well you guys couldn't do it at home could you, never mind in Italia. Theyve been good for a few years now, 23' when France and Ireland were at their best were arguably better Italian performances than this years 6N results.
My point was of course they don't want to get ahead of themselves and then lose against teams that they should be beating. That's the difficulty with getting better and better.
Go to commentsThey’re being dressed as midfielders. Neither of them is a natural midfielder, they’re both converts.
You can call a rose by any other name, yada yada, as Billy Shakespeare says. Semantics.
New Zealand went all the way from having a surplus of midfielders in about 2015 to having to convert wingers and two different utility backs (Havili, Jordie). How did that happen?
All the while actual specialist 12s and 13s are not even getting a proper shot. Laumape lost patience with that nonsense. Big Leicester as well (now that’s a winger convert that would actually make sense at 13). It’s literally stupid not to try players out.
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