Cape Town - Canada lock Josh Larsen has received a three week ban following his red card in their 66-7 Rugby World Cup loss to South Africa in Kobe.
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Larsen was sent off in the 35th minute of Tuesday's clash after dangerously barging into Springbok prop Thomas du Toit at a ruck.
According to the Rugby World Cup's official website, Larsen attended a disciplinary hearing in Tokyo on Thursday where he was found guilty of foul play.
He appeared before an independent Judicial Committee chaired by Wang Shao Ing (Singapore lawyer and former international player), with former referees Donal Courtney (Ireland) and Valeriu Toma (Romania) also present.
Larsen admitted the act of foul play and that his actions warranted a red card.
The committee considered that the terms of High Tackle Sanction Framework were relevant and accepted the player’s admission that:
- There was a shoulder charge
- There was direct contact of the player’s left shoulder to his opponent’s head and neck
- There are no mitigating factors
The committee upheld the red card and applied World Rugby's mandatory minimum mid-range entry point, which was introduced in 2017 to protect player welfare.
It resulted in a starting point of a six-week suspension, however, mitigating factors - which included the player's clean disciplinary record - saw the ban reduced to three weeks.
Larsen will now miss Canada's final pool match against Namibia on October 13 and his first two matches for his new club, the New England Free Jacks, in the 2020 Major League Rugby season.
- Compiled by Herman Mostert