ZCZC
BSP-06
RUGBYU-NZL-FRA-FALL
French fullback Fall has red card cancelled
WELLINGTON, June 18, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The red card that saw French
fullback Benjamin Fall sent off in the second Test against New Zealand was
cancelled Monday by a World Rugby judicial committee.
Fall’s dismissal, following a mid-air collision which left All Blacks
flyhalf Beauden Barrett concussed, came 12 minutes into Saturday’s Test in
Wellington that New Zealand won 26-13.
The red card was criticised by the All Blacks management and players who
said the collision which sent Barrett head first into the ground was
accidental.
The judicial panel, headed by Australian Adam Casselden, said that after
reviewing all the evidence it was agreed to cancel the card.
Video footage showed Fall at all times “had his eyes on the ball whilst it
was in the air, which showed, in our opinion, a clear intention, on the part
of the player, that he intended to contest it,” the committee found.
It said Fall had collided with All Blacks centre Anton Lienert-Brown just
before leaping for the ball and that had caused him to lose his balance.
By running into Lienert-Brown, Fall “was denied the time and the space to
put himself in a position to avoid a collision” with Barrett.
“We did not consider that the player’s actions, in the circumstances of
this case, were deliberate or reckless.”
Because of his head knock, Barrett is unlikely to play in the third and
final Test in Dunedin next weekend.
BSS/AFP/MR/1043 hrs