South Africa’s veteran lock Lood de Jager has been handed a four-match suspension following his red card in the first half of the 32-17 win over France national rugby union team in Paris.
The red card was shown after de executed a no-arms tackle on French fullback Thomas Ramos, which was deemed to involve direct contact to the head and was classified as a serious foul-play offence.
An independent disciplinary committee initially proposed a six-match ban under World Rugby’s guidelines, but the sanction was reduced to four matches after considering mitigating factors.
De will miss South Africa’s upcoming Tests against Italy national rugby union team, Ireland national rugby union team and Wales national rugby union team, as well as a club match in Japan’s League One for his team Wild Knights.
De Jager is eligible to participate in World Rugby’s Coaching Intervention Programme, which could reduce his remaining suspension by one match.
