The Henry Slade red card verdict is finally in after his controversial dismissal at the weekend.
England and Exeter Chiefs teams have received positive news as the centre will not be facing a ban, after receiving a red card during Saturday’s loss to the Bulls.
Slade went to a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday, following his dismissal in the second half of Exeter’s 39-28 defeat in Pretoria, for what was deemed to be a dangerous tackle on Springboks wing Kurt-Lee Arendse.
The referee for the game was Thomas Charabas, who had replaced Matthieu Raynal earlier in the game due to injury.
Henry Slade red card verdict
Slade was sent off by the replacement referee, Thomas Charabas (France), in the 54th minute of the match at Loftus Versfeld for tackling the Vodacom Bulls full-back, Kurt-Lee Arendse, in a dangerous manner in contravention of Law 9.13.
Law 9.13 A player must not tackle an opponent dangerously
Under World Rugby’s Sanctions for Foul Play, Law 9.13 relating to dangerous tackling carries the following sanction entry points – Low End: 2 weeks; Mid-range: 6 weeks; Top end: 10 to 52 weeks
An independent Disciplinary Committee comprising Jennifer Donovan (Ireland), Chair, Frank Hadden (Scotland) and Yannick Jauzion (France) considered video imagery of the incident and heard evidence from Slade, who did not accept the red card decision, and heard submissions from the player’s legal representative, Richard Smith KC, from the Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby, Rob Baxter, and from the EPCR Disciplinary Officer, Liam McTiernan.
The committee decided that while Slade had committed an act of foul play, it did not warrant a sending off. The red card decision was therefore dismissed and he is free to play.
EPCR have the right to appeal the decision.
Henry Slade red card:
“Here’s my England XV” – Sir Clive Woodward would include Henry Slade
Woodward wrote: “This first squad selection of England’s new era under Steve Borthwick proves not only that he wants to pick a team with pace, but also promises a stark contrast to the Eddie Jones era.
“Jones would never have named the likes of Ollie Hassell-Collins and Ben Earl for the Six Nations, as Borthwick did. Under the Australian, England became far too slow from one to 15.
“England’s overall approach and gameplan needed to change radically, which is why I’m so pleased by Borthwick’s selection. It is very positive.
“I was Jones’ No 1 fan up until the week of the 2019 World Cup final. England got their preparation for that game in Yokohama badly wrong. There were distractions everywhere and the team, as well as Jones, never recovered.”
Sir Clive Woodward England XV (Mail Online):
15. Freddie Steward
14. Ollie Hassell-Collins
13. Henry Slade
12. Manu Tuilagi
11. Cadan Murley