Rugby World Cup 2019: USA’s John Quill banned for three matches after red card against England

The American flanker was found by an independent judicial committee to have committed a reckless act of foul play

Harry Latham-Coyle
Friday 27 September 2019 13:11 BST
Comments
Eddie Jones reacts to England's Rugby World Cup win over USA

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

John Quill has received a three-match ban after being sent off during England’s 45-7 win over the USA.

The American flanker was found by an independent judicial committee to have committed a reckless act of foul play, making contact with his shoulder to the head of Owen Farrell in the second half of the game.

This merited a red card and a mid-range six-game entry point for the ban, reduced to three matches due to Quill’s good character and conduct at the hearing.

Quill will thus miss the USA’s three other Pool C games against France, Argentina and Tonga.

Farrell was not seriously injured by Quill’s challenge and played on after the incident.

Referee Nic Berry, who had his playing career ended by concussion problems, sent the flanker off after consultation with the Television Match Official.

It has been a Rugby World Cup 2019 of debate around seemingly lenient intiial punishments for a number of high tackle incidents.

Indeed, Quill’s tackle was not the only such moment of the England-USA clash, with England centre Piers Francis cited for his tackle of Will Hooley inside of 15 seconds.

Francis will appear before a judicial committee at some point in the next few days, and given he also made contact with the head of the player, a mid-range entry point seems likely.

Francis would therefore also appear to be in line for a three-game ban. Rey Lee-Lo of Samoa and Reece Hodge of Australia received identical bans earlier in the tournament.

Also banned for three games today was Samoan hooker Motu Matu’u.

Matu’u and team mate Lee-Lo were cited after receiving yellow cards against Russia, with the citing panel deeming the offences to be worthy of a red card.

Team mate Ed Fidow received a warning.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in