Sonny Bill cleared to play
World Rugby will look to tighten up their rules about what constitutes a match after Sonny Bill Williams was cleared to serve out his suspension in an All Blacks’ warm-up game.
Instead of Williams serving the fourth game of his Lions shoulder-charge ban in the Bledisloe opener at ANZ Stadium on August 19, he can now sit out the All Blacks practice match of two 40-minute halves against Counties Manukau and Taranaki respectively on August 11.
It is in fact a “game of three halves”, with Counties and Taranaki to play each other after they play halves against the All Blacks. The Kiwis successfully appealed a World Rugby committee’s original decision that this was not a meaningful match by arguing that punters were paying to see it and anyone who gets a red card in the game would have to front a judiciary. While it appears New Zealand has used a loophole to embarrass the game’s governing body, Wallabies coach Michael Cheika was nonplussed about Williams’ sudden availability.
“Whether he’s in or out, that’s up to them, that’s their business, who they run with, who they pick, and how they get them picked,” Cheika said.
“We just get on with our stuff.”
But World Rugby vice-president Agustin Pichot tweeted: “I disagree with the decision of the independent disciplinary commission on SBW.”
A bewildered World Rugby issued a statement expressing surprise that their independent appeals committee decided this was a valid game.
“While World Rugby respects the decision of the independent appeal committee to uphold the appeal by New Zealand’s Sonny Bill Williams against the matches that counted towards his four-week suspension, it is surprised by the committee’s interpretation of the definition of ‘match’ (which is defined in Regulation 1 as ‘a game in which two teams compete against each other’),” a statement from World Rugby read.
“With the appeal process having been exhausted, World Rugby will refer the interpretation of the regulation to the Regulations Committee when it meets in September to examine the findings in the context of the game’s regulations to ensure universal clarity and compliance with the meaning of the regulation moving forward.”