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Wallabies flanker Dean Mumm has been cleared to face England at Twickenham on Saturday (Sunday 0130 AEDT) by a World Rugby independent disciplinary committee.
Mumm was sin-binned in the second minute of Australia’s 27-24 loss to Ireland after a lifting tackle on Tadhg Furlong at Aviva Stadium and subsequently cited for the offence.
The 32-year-old appeared at a hearing in London on Tuesday where he was informed no further action would be taken against him.
The NSW Waratahs forward sat before a three-man disciplinary committee chaired by Welshman Simon Thomas, who accepted his argument that although the tackle warranted a yellow card it wasn’t a red card offence and he should be free to play.
“It didn’t meet the red card threshold and that was backed up by the disciplinary committee,” Wallabies coach Michael Cheika said.
“It was a good result.”
News of Mumm’s clearance was tempered by a second rebuttal from French side Stade Francais over the availability of halfback Will Genia.
Genia left Dublin on Sunday to return to Paris while the rest of the squad jetted into London to prepare to face an England side unbeaten in 14 games under former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones.
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Cheika had hoped his decision to allow Genia to sit out the dead rubber against New Zealand in Auckland earlier this year so he could play for his club would work in his side’s favour.
However, after Saturday’s loss to Ireland scuppered any hopes of a first grand slam in 32 years, the Paris side insisted the former Queensland Red return to the French capital ahead of Saturday’s game against Bayonne.
Cheika, who coached Stade between 2010 and 2012, approached club powerbrokers again on Tuesday but was knocked back, with Nick Phipps in line to deputise once more after impressing against Wales earlier this month.
“They obviously place more importance on their game for Will than our international,” he said.
“That’s the way the rules are, so we’ll just have to deal with it.”
Five-eighth Bernard Foley said he fully expects England to target him and Phipps but vowed the Australia playmakers wouldn’t allow themselves to be disrupted as they were in the 3-0 series loss in Australia earlier this year.
“I think it’s just being smart in how we engage in the play and we just pick and choose our times,” Foley said.
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“In the June series, they came with a pretty simple but well executed plan and did a really good job for them.
“So, for us its just managing the game as best we can and allowing us to probably be more accurate, especially at the breakdown and in our starters so that we’re probably not as involved or not falling into the trap of getting targeted.”
