Jack Nowell has been hit with a hefty £10,000 fine and ordered to attend a refereeing course after his social media outburst criticising the decision to send off his Exeter teammate Olly Woodburn but he has escaped a ban.
As a result Nowell will be available for Exeter’s Champions Cup semi-final against La Rochelle at the end of the month as well as his Sandy Park farewell against Bristol on Saturday.
Nowell accepted the Rugby Football Union’s misconduct charge for his tweet during Exeter’s defeat by Leicester on Sunday that Karl Dickson’s call to show Woodburn a second yellow card was “one of the worst decisions I have ever seen”. He was subsequently cited by the RFU. Nowell’s fine will be paid to charity.
As revealed by the Guardian, England players will be given fresh social media guidance “in line with World Cup regulations” before the tournament in France and while defending Nowell before Wednesday’s hearing his director of rugby at Exeter, Rob Baxter, said he had reminded his players of the platform’s pitfalls.
Matthew O’Grady, who chaired the disciplinary panel, said: “Debate about on-field decisions by players and officials is an inevitable part of rugby union and professional rugby players have the right to express themselves about the sport they play. However, they are not free from the consequences of such expression when it breaches their professional obligation not to act prejudicially to the interests of the game by disrespecting match officials, their decisions and their authority – not least when that expression contributes to a ‘pile-on’ of public comment about a match official or match officials.”
The disciplinary panel also noted that Dickson made the correct decision to send off Woodburn for a second yellow card in the eyes of World Rugby. In an incident that polarised opinion, Woodburn was punished for diving on Chris Ashton on the floor. The Leicester wing was attempting to score in the right-hand corner as he was tackled by Stuart Hogg, with Woodburn diving at Ashton in an effort to force him into touch. Ashton’s foot grazed the touchline before he could score the try so Dickson ruled that a penalty try should be awarded with Woodburn shown his yellow card.
Meanwhile, the RFU will seek to push through plans to lower the tackle height in the community game again on Friday after sparking a grassroots revolt the first time around. The union was forced into a humiliating apology after announcing plans to outlaw tackles above the waist in January without consulting the clubs the move would affect.
The RFU belatedly announced a consultation process when apologising but has held firm on its plans to lower the tackle height and the union’s council is on Friday expected to vote in favour. The consultation process has essentially been an exercise in how to better word the law variation and though Friday’s vote is likely to approve the change, there remains significant opposition among community clubs, who have called for the RFU chief executive, Bill Sweeney, to resign.
