England's Piers Francis cleared to play after citing dismissed

England international Piers Francis will be available for the upcoming World Cup clash against Argentina after his citing for a dangerous tackle has been dismissed.

The 29-year-old was cited for an incident during the second round World Cup game against the United States of America at Kobe Misaki Stadium after he was alleged to have breached Law 9.13 that deals with dangerous tackle.

Francis, who has played nine Tests for England since making his debut in 2017 appeared before a three-person independent disciplinary committee comprising of Nigel Hampton QC (New Zealand), joined by former international coach Frank Hadden (Scotland) and former international player John Langford (Australia).

The panel warranted that Francis did commit a foul play but it did not meet the threshold of a red-card thus clearing him of the charges.

“England centre Piers Francis attended a disciplinary hearing on 29 September having been cited for an act of foul play contrary to Law 9.13 (dangerous high tackle) in England’s Rugby World Cup 2019 match against USA on 26 September.

“The independent Judicial Committee was chaired by Nigel Hampton QC (New Zealand), joined by former international coach Frank Hadden (Scotland) and former international player John Langford (Australia).

“The player admitted that he had committed an act of foul play but denied that it reached the red card threshold.

"Having considered all the angles of the incident, together with evidence from the player and submissions from his legal counsel, the panel determined that the act ought to have resulted in a yellow card on-field. Since the threshold for upholding a citing is ‘red card’, the Committee did not uphold the citing and the player is free to play again immediately.

“The Committee followed the High Tackle Sanction Framework (HTSF) in order to make its decision. The player accepted that it was a high tackle that made contact with the head of the opposition ball carrier.

"He also accepted that a high degree of danger was present. Following the HTSF, this results in a starting point of a red card. The Committee then considered whether mitigating factors should result in the sanction being decreased.”

England currently are at the top position in Pool C with two bonus point wins from as many games.