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Bok lock update: Lood de Jager red card appeal dismissed
By Ian Cameron
South Africa have been dealt a fresh blow in the second row after Lood de Jager failed in his attempt to overturn the red card that ended his November campaign.
The 6’9 Springboks’ red card dismissal against France was the first of a double-whammy of Autumn Nations Series sendings off for their second-rows, coming a week before Franco Mostert saw the same fate in their win over Italy.
As a result, De Jager will play no further part this month. It leaves the Springboks to navigate the rest of the tour, which will end in 9 days with a game against Wales, without their experienced Saitama Wild Knights No.5.
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De Jager, sent off for a dangerous tackle during the win over France on 8 November, appeared before an independent Appeal Committee on Wednesday evening via video link.
He had challenged both the finding that he committed an act of foul play under Law 9.13 and the resulting four-match suspension.
The Appeal Committee dismissed the appeal in full.
After reviewing the case as originally presented to the Disciplinary Committee and considering further submissions made on the player’s behalf, the panel upheld the decision that the tackle merited a red card and the sanction that followed.
The ruling lands on the same day Rassie Erasmus named his match-day squad for Ireland, confirming de Jager’s absence for the remainder of the series.
It comes after better news for the Boks on Wednesday.
Franco Mostert, whose permanent red card against Italy last weekend threatened to deepen the lock shortage, had his sending-off rescinded at his own hearing on Tuesday.
The independent Disciplinary Committee found that while there was foul play and head contact in Mostert’s challenge on Paolo Garbisi, the incident did not meet the red-card threshold.
Their review concluded that the initial contact was directly to Garbisi’s shoulder, with “daylight” between that point and the head or neck.
The subsequent head contact was deemed secondary, made with lower force and without the level of danger required under World Rugby’s Head Contact Process.
The red card has been dismissed and removed from his record.
