Tonga's George Moala suspension upheld

The Independent Appeal Committee upheld the decision of the Judicial Committee to suspend George Moala for five games. 

UPHELD: Tonga's George Moala suspension has been upheld by the Appeals Committee. Pic: ©INPHO/Ashley Crowden

Tonga centre George Moala's appeal against the decision of the Judicial Committee to suspend him for five games arising from an act of foul play contrary to Law 9.18 (lifting tackle). The incident occurred in their World Cup warm-up match against Canada on August 10 with the appeal hearing heard remotely today.

The independent Appeal Committee was chaired by Christopher Quinlan KC (independent Judicial Panel Chairman), Brenda Heather-Latu (Samoa) and Judge Mike Mika (New Zealand).

The Appeal Committee has dismissed Moala's appeal against the entry point of the offence. The committee considered the evidence and they found that the Judicial Committee which heard the case originally were entitled to find the tackle warranted a mid-range entry point and upheld the decision of the Disciplinary Committee.

Moala was selected for the Tonga Rugby World Cup squad and the suspension remains as imposed by the Judicial Committee and will therefore miss the following matches against Canada (August 15), Clermont Auvergne v Perpignan (26 August), Ireland (September 16), Scotland (September 24) and South Africa (October 1). 

Elsewhere, Romania's Adrian Motoc appeared before an independent judicial committee via video link for the red card he received against Italy on Saturday August 19. The red card was for an act of foul contrary to Law 9.20(a) (Dangerous play in a ruck or maul. A player must not charge into a ruck or maul. Charging includes any contact made without binding onto another player in the ruck or maul). 

The independent Judicial Committee consisted of Rhian Williams (Chair - Wales), Leon Lloyd (England) and John Langford (Australia) heard the case and considered all the evidence and submissions from the player and his representative.

Motoc admitted he committed an act of foul play, however he did not accept it warranted a red card.

The Committee reviewed the footage in detail and at length and heard Motoc's comprehensive explanations of his actions and also considered statements from the Italy number seven.

The Committee applied the Head Contact Process and they concluded that the player's action warranted a red card however that the player should not be denied the benefit of mitigation as his actions were not 'always legal'. If the sudden and significant movements of the Italy number seven who was removing himself from the ruck to rejoin the defensive line then the player would not have made contact to the head of Italy number seven.

If it had not been for this mitigating factor the player's actions would have been legitimate.

On that basis, the committee did not uphold the red card and Motoc is free to play with immediate effect.