Six Nations statement: Committee, date named for Billy Vunipola hearing

England are facing a very busy Tuesday on the independent disciplinary hearing front as the case for the red card brandished to Billy Vunipola on Saturday in Dublin will be heard in the evening after the appeal in the Owen Farrell case.   

A Six Nations statement read: “England No8 Billy Vunipola will attend an independent disciplinary hearing after he received a red card for an act of foul play contrary to law 9.13 (a player must not tackle an opponent early, late or dangerously) in the Summer Nations Series match between Ireland and England on Saturday, August 19. 

“The player will attend a hearing via video conference before an independent judicial committee consisting of Roddy Dunlop KC (chairman, Scotland), joined by former international coach Frank Hadden (Scotland) and former international Jamie Corsi (Wales). The hearing will take place on Tuesday evening, August 22.” 

Vunipola was yellow-carded on 53 minutes in Dublin for his collision with Ireland’s Andrew Porter, a sanction upgraded some minutes later to a red card following a TMO bunker review.

England boss Steve Borthwick said post-game: “I’m not going to comment upon the incident specifically because it goes into a disciplinary process this coming week.

“Hopefully we will find a conclusion on both matters this week and it won’t go into another week. Once I have all the facts, I will deal with them.

“We talked about the way this Test week was disrupted (by the Farrell situation) and I need to adapt throughout the week. It’s another challenge that has been thrown at us.”

It was Tuesday last week when England skipper Farrell was cleared to play with immediate effect after the red card received in the August 12 match against Wales was rescinded.

An all-Australian independent judiciary of Adam Casselden (SC, chair) and two former Wallaby players, John Langford and David Croft decided to downgrade the Farrell tackle on Taine Basham to a yellow card offence.

However, World Rugby last Thursday exercised its right to appeal the decision and this will be heard this Tuesday by a committee consisting of Nigel Hampton KC (chair, New Zealand), joined by Shao-ing Wang (Singapore) and Donal Courtney (Ireland).