SCOTLAND NUMBER EIGHT Ryan Wilson has not been hit with a ban at a disciplinary hearing today, despite the independent committee finding that he had made contact with the eye area of an opponent.
Wilson was embroiled in a scuffle with England’s Nathan Hughes late in the first half of Saturday’s Six Nations clash.
The number eight, who was also involved in a tunnel confrontation with Owen Farrell, was then cited after footage showed his fingers making contact with his opposite number’s face.
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The disciplinary panel, chaired Wales’ Roger Morris, found that Wilson had indeed breached World Rugby Law 9.12 by making contact with Hughes’ eye area. However, the Six Nations statement released this afternoon says that the committee received medical evidence stating that Wilson’s fourth and little finger are involuntarily in a hooked or bent position.
The statement adds: “the disciplinary committee also considered that the contact with the eye area had been reckless (rather than intentional), light and fleeting, and had come about as a result of the player’s attempts to grab his opponent’s shirt during an off-the-ball scuffle.”
The committee’s conclusion was that the act did not warrant a red card and so no sanction was imposed on Wilson, leaving him free to play a part in Scotland’s back row against Ireland on 10 March.
