Wallabies captain James Horwill has been cleared following an extraordinary International Rugby Board Appeal heard overnight.
Horwill will play in Saturday night’s third and deciding Test against the British & Irish Lions, after Independent Appeal Officer Graeme Mew, from Canada, this morning declined to uphold an IRB Appeal brought against Horwill after he was cleared of a foul play charge at a previous judicial hearing.
The judicial process has weighed down on the Wallabies, but the ultimate clearing of Horwill is a boost to the side ahead of the final Test in Sydney.
The Wallabies captain was initially cleared by Judicial Officer Nigel Hampton QC who found that on the balance of probabilities he could not find an intentional or deliberate action of stamping or trampling.
Horwill was alleged to have stamped or trampled on British & Irish Lions’ lock, Alun Wyn Jones, in the third minute of the opening Test of the Australia 2013 Lions Tour in Brisbane on Saturday 22 June.
Indpendent Appeal Officer Mew noted that “for the appeal to succeed the IRB would have to establish that there was some misapprehension of law or principle by the Judicial Officer or that his decision was so clearly wrong or manifestly unreasonable that no Judicial Officer could have reached the conclusion that he did.”
Following a two and a half hour appeal hearing conducted by video conference, and extensive deliberation for more than 12 hours, Mew concluded that the Judicial Officer had not made any errors of law or principle.
“There was sufficient evidence upon which a reasonable Judicial Officer could have reached the decision that was made,” said Mew.
“Accordingly, it could not be said that the Judicial Offer was manifestly wrong or that the interests of justice otherwise required his decision be overturned.”
Mew also stated that the IRB’s appeal had been properly taken in the discharge of its responsibilities to promote and ensure player welfare and to protect the image and the reputation of the game.
AussieKiwi
Guest
I commented on this above. Very confusing but the lack of a possessive apostrophe is a dead giveaway. Congratulations you have a stalker (or multiple personalities, one of which has poor grammar!)!
AussieKiwi
Guest
I did wonder when I saw the spelling of the name..... Oh well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say.
Ohtanis Jackets
Roar Rookie
I believe I meant to say he or she is part of my adoring public. Silly of me to forget that the word 'they' is a plural pronoun and couldn't possibly be used to refer to 'that person' [singular].
Ash
Guest
Sorry it was Pocock not Smith.
colvin
Guest
Jerry, I can believe that the average IQ of posters on this site comfortably exceeds 50. Luckily in the lucky country the average IQ is 98. This compares quite well with the world average of 100. As a country Aus ranks 19th equal in country ranking. Not bad. As a general guide you kinda need an IQ of at least 70; so 50 doesn't quite make it. Forest Gump from memory had 69. As a matter of interest the average IQ of NZers is 100 and the country ranks 12th equal worldwide. Didn't Muldoon say many years ago that the migration of NZers to Aus in the 60's caused the average IQ of both countries to rise.
ohtani's jacket
Guest
I'm disappointed so many of you think this is me. I would have said something far more witty and irritating.
ohtani's jacket
Guest
That person isn't me. Presumably they're part of my adoring public.
stillmatic1
Guest
wasnt oj simpson found innocent too??
Jerry
Guest
Upset? Hardly, I've been laughing my arse off at the histrionics for the last few days. Yeah, I thought Horwill was guilty. Still do and I don't think the fact that the judiciary let him off is gonna change my mind. After all, the judiciary let Quade off for his knee, let Umaga & Mealamu off, banned Bakkies Botha for a clear out, gave Higginbotham the same as Dean Greyling and only gave Schalk Burger 8 weeks for an eye gouge. It's been broken for years. But I confess, I am fascinated that anyone could actually seriously think that McCaw incident in the RWC final was anything but an accident.
Frisky
Guest
Does the IRB consist of "a group of old farts"??? Even English players share this opinion.
Jerry
Guest
That was in 2010, George Smith wasn't even in the team by that stage.
The Bush
Roar Guru
Gotta have a small giggle on here sometimes hey Jerry!
Billy Bob
Guest
Apologies for my last comment. It was a little ill tempered and misplaced. I was unable to edit it due to website restrictions.
Billy Bob
Guest
Cramps, there is a dark cloud gathering over New Zealand where the legal dreams of OJ, Jerry, Jokerman, and by no means the least or the last Flying Hori have just gone up in smoke. They had all agreed in an an unfortunately unoriginal episode of group think to pass a guilty verdict on the Wallaby captain. Not deterred by a lack of legal training, open-mindedness or biomechnical science they took as their evidence one camera angle and many words of their own invention around the ideas of ' thug ' 'guilty' 'and 'yellow jersey' and made a decision amongst themselves with logic that goes like this: 1He looked bad 2Therefore he was bad and he is bad, and 3This badness must be punished. They did not understand the logical leap required between point 1 and 2. A leap that could only be made with a springboard of prejudice. Unfortunately two lawyers,one of them an educated NZer, have decided otherwise. Sometimes I think there should be breath testing for bloggers. There can sometimes be a lot of unnecessary bitterness expressed here. In this case by a small mob of trolling 'neutrals'. I'm looking at you Jerry and OJ. Many in NZ do not share your need to see a player denied natural justice. Free speech is your right as its my right to say your group stance on this issue with its dependence on naked prejudice looks like the work of ignorant bigots. But I won't say for sure until I see the other 8 camera angles.
jameswm
Roar Guru
That's what Genia says behind closed doors. And he says it silently during a game.
Billy Bob
Guest
Cramps its not widely known but George and Izzy are related. When George was hugged by Izzy he was moved to song, singing "He ain't heavy, he's my ......." And so the family,reunited, made its way down the field.
Parisien
Guest
Jerry gets worked up at any suggestion of double standards. Having gone out on a limb to assert Horwill's guilt, he now realizes he looks a bit stupid, which also could be upsetting him.
Parisien
Guest
You sound like a petulant child. After a citing, a hearing, and an appeal with another hearing, Horwill has been found innocent. You were wrong. Legal matters are best left to lawyers, not armchair critics and rugby fans.
Cramps
Guest
Ahh, savour the misplaced moral outrage of a man who believes in a system until that system returns an unfavourable verdict. Imagine if the person who delivered both the initial verdict and then the verdict on the appeal actually practised law! Oh they both do? Well, hot damn.
Ash
Guest
It started off the feud with QC.