The England coaches Andy Farrell and Graham Rowntree will have restricted match-day access in the World Cup Pool A fixture against Uruguay after being found to have breached the match officials’ protocol, World Rugby has announced.
It had been alleged that two members of the England coaching team approached match officials in the tunnel at Twickenham at half-time during the 33-13 loss to Australia which is strictly against protocol.
The coaches were said to have been angered by the lack of action against the Wallabies’ Michael Hooper for an aggressive clearout of the England full-back Mike Brown, an offence for which the flanker was later cited and then banned for a week.
The defeat led to England becoming the first host nation to fail to make the knock-out stages of the World Cup.
“World Rugby is investigating an alleged breach by the England coaching team of the match-day communications protocol between match officials and team members or union officials during the match between England and Australia,” World Rugby said at the time.
The referee Romain Poite had awarded only a penalty after Hooper had charged into the ruck with his shoulder but New Zealand’s citing commissioner, Steve Hind, determined Hooper’s actions could have justified a red card.
The offence usually leads to a minimum of a two-week punishment but World Rugby said the reduced sentence was given because it was a low-end offence and Hooper had otherwise displayed good conduct and character.
It means Hooper will miss Australia’s final Pool A match against Wales on Saturday but is free to resume playing for Australia’s quarter-final.
