Piers Francis has been cited for a dangerous tackle in the first minute of England’s World Cup victory over the USA and faces a potential ban that could rule him out of the rest of the tournament.
Francis’s high tackle on the USA’s Will Hooley came straight from kick-off, just seven seconds into England’s seven-try victory but the incident was not reviewed by the referee Nic Berry. After the match the USA head coach, Gary Gold, said that it had to be reviewed if Francis’s shoulder had made contact with Hooley’s head and the England centre will now face a three-man disciplinary panel in Tokyo in the coming days.
Had Berry deemed the incident worthy of a red card at the time, England would have had to play for almost the entire match with 14 men. In the 69th minute of the match, the USA flanker John Quill received the first red card of the tournament for a sickening shoulder to Owen Farrell’s head. Farrell was lucky to escape serious injury with the England attack coach Scott Wisemantel confirming on Friday that he had suffered no delayed after-effects.
Francis becomes the fourth player cited at the World Cup following World Rugby’s promised clampdown on high tackles and the governing body’s public reprimand for its referees earlier this week. Under World Rugby regulations, any sanctions which involve contact with the head warrant a mid-range entry point and therefore a minimum of six weeks. Australia’s Reece Hodge and Samoa’s Rey Lee-Lo were both handed six-week bans, reduced to three for mitigation. A three-week ban at the World Cup equates to three matches so Francis would not be able to play again until the semi-finals, were England to get that far. England would not be permitted to replace Francis in their squad if he does receive a ban.
Hooley played on after the Francis tackle but suffered a concussion in a separate second-half incident involving Mark Wilson and was taken to hospital after the match as a result.
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Team guides
Pool A: Ireland, Japan, Russia, Samoa, Scotland
Pool B: Canada, Italy, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa
Pool C: Argentina, England, France, Tonga, USA
Pool D: Australia, Fiji, Georgia, Uruguay, Wales
Meanwhile, Mako Vunipola and Jack Nowell are both expected to be available for England’s next World Cup match against Argentina on Saturday week after both came through training on Friday. Vunipola and Nowell have missed both of England’s bonus point victories against Tonga and the USA so far, having arrived in Japan with hamstring and knee injuries respectively. Both completed what Eddie Jones had promised would be “a tough session” and as a result are in contention to face Argentina in Tokyo next weekend. With England also hopeful over Henry Slade, Jones is set to have a full complement of 31 players to select from against the Pumas, Francis’s potential ban notwithstanding.
“You want your best players fit and they trained well this morning,” said Jonny May, who was rested against the USA. “Mako is a world class so to have him back is brilliant. Jack is world class as well, so to get two players of that standard, raising the standard of everyone around them, having those options available is brilliant at this stage.”
