TOKYO – Canada lock forward Josh Larsen has been banned for three weeks after the red card he received in his team’s 66-7 defeat against South Africa on Tuesday.
Larsen was sent off in the first half of the 2019 Rugby World Cup game against the Springboks for a dangerous challenge on Thomas du Toit. Afterwards, Larsen went to the South African dressing-room to make a personal apology for his reckless tackle.
The Canadian, though, attended a disciplinary hearing in Tokyo on Thursday, where he appeared before an independent Judicial Committee chaired by Wang Shao Ing (Singapore lawyer and former international player) and former referees Donal Courtney (Ireland) and Valeriu Toma (Romania).
Larsen admitted to the act of foul play, with the committee accepting the player’s admission and taking into account some mitigating factors, including the player’s clean disciplinary record.
The sanction for the offence has a starting point of a six-week suspension, but the committee reduced it by three weeks.
Larsen will miss Canada’s final RWC pool match against Namibia on Sunday as well as his first two matches for his new club, New England Free Jacks, in the 2020 Major League Rugby season.