James Horwill is free to lead Australia in Saturday’s third and deciding Test against the British and Irish Lions after being cleared of stamping charges in a second judicial hearing ordered by the International Rugby Board (IRB).
Appeal officer Graeme Mew of Canada rejected the IRB appeal brought against Horwill after he was cleared of foul play charges at a previous judicial hearing by New Zealand-based Nigel Hampton, who found there was no intentional or deliberate action of stamping or trampling on Lions lock Alun-Wyn Jones in the first Test in Brisbane.
The IRB launched its unprecedented appeal before the second Test in Melbourne, Australia, where Horwill led Australia to a 16-15 victory to level the series.
The decision was released yesterday, more than 14 hours after a two-hour hearing held late on Monday in Sydney by video conference and with Mew in Toronto, Canada.
Horwill said he found out during a weight training session that he was eligible to play on Saturday.
“It’s huge,” Horwill said. “I love what I do and it means a lot to me to represent my country, and not only to represent it, but to lead it in what is arguably the biggest game in this country since the Rugby World Cup final in 2003. I’m excited at that opportunity and now we can focus on the game.”
“I feel very vindicated by the way it’s gone. The process is what it is, but I have to say it was a very fair process both times,” he added. “The hearings were very fair.”
In his findings, Mew said that there were no errors of law or principle in the original decision and no evidence that Hampton’s decision was “manifestly wrong or that the interests of justice otherwise required his decision be overturned.”
“There was sufficient evidence upon which a reasonable judicial officer could have reached the decision that was made,” Mew said.
However, Mew also said that the IRB’s appeal had been properly taken in the discharge of its responsibilities to promote and ensure player welfare, and to protect the image and the reputation of the game.
The Dublin-based IRB issued a statement saying it “fully accepts” Mew’s decision, and was satisfied it took the right approach with the case.
“The protection of players from foul play, intentional or otherwise, is vital in upholding the values and image of rugby, and to send a clear message to all levels of the game that such acts are unacceptable,” the statement said. “In light of the potential adverse implications, the IRB is keen to ensure all acts of foul play involving the head should be given serious and thorough consideration.”
If Horwill had been banned from playing the third Test, it would have meant both captains were lost to their teams. On Monday, Lions flanker Sam Warburton was ruled out of the third match with a torn left hamstring.
Horwill told a news conference last week after the IRB announced the appeal that he was “confident of what happened on the field.”
The original hearing, he said, “was four hours and we had nine different camera angles to look at, so it was very thorough and in that case, the hearing went through its due process via an IRB-appointed judicial officer.”
Jones needed stitches to a head wound after the Lions won the first Test 23-21 and Horwill was subsequently cited.
Hampton’s original finding caused outrage among fans in Britain, and the IRB said it wanted to “further examine potential acts of foul play which either potentially or in reality impact on the preservation of player welfare.”
In his earlier comments, Horwill said the one TV angle shown on replays was not a full reflection of the incident, when he claimed to have lost balance before making contact with Jones’ head with his right boot.
“You can slow anything down to make it look different, but if you look at the other angles, you can see what happened,” Horwill said.
“I’ve played more than 130 professional rugby games and never been cited once and never been to any judicial hearings. It was a complete accident. Unfortunately, accidents happen in rugby — it’s a contact sport. There was no intent or malice,” he added.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but