Ireland lock Tadhg Beirne has avoided a ban after his red card against New Zealand was rescinded by a disciplinary panel.
Beirne was sent off in the opening five minutes of his side’s defeat to the All Blacks in Chicago after making head contact with Beauden Barrett.
With the incident deemed to have met the yellow card threshold by referee Pierre Brousset, the 33-year-old’s sanction was upgraded to a 20-minute red card by foul play review officer (FPRO) Dan Jones.
Barrett, however, suggested after the match that he did not feel that Beirne’s challenge merited a sending off, indicating that he would support the Irishman’s efforts to get the card rescinded.
“I spoke to Tadhg after the game and I was gutted for him,” Barrett said. “It was one of those unfortunate parts of the game. I didn’t expect the ball. I was hoping that Cam [Roigard] would have played the other option.
“”He didn’t intentionally put a shoulder on me. I can’t hide from the fact that I copped a shoulder to somewhere up there, that’s what happened, but I’ll support him in terms of mitigating whatever happens next. I don’t feel there’s any intention there, it’s just unfortunate.”
And a disciplinary committee that convened on Tuesday overturned the decision, leaving Beirne free to feature against Japan in Dublin this weekend and in the remainder of Ireland’s Quilter Nations Series fixtures.
A statement said: “Having considered the Player’s and other evidence and reviewed the footage, the Disciplinary Committee accepted the Player’s submissions that whilst an act of foul play had occurred, it did not meet the red card threshold.
“The 20-minute Red Card was thus rescinded. As a result, the Player is now free to play and available for selection this weekend.”
Ireland also take on Australia and South Africa this November as they look to rebound from their defeat at Soldier Field.
Barrett’s brothers, Scott and Jordie, have been ruled out of New Zealand’s trip to Murrayfield to take on Scotland but Beauden is in line to start at fly half again.
