Citing Commissioner Decision Out On Paylor Injury
Citing Commissioner Decision Out On Paylor Injury
USA Rugby's citing commissioner has finished a review of the incident that led to Cal play Robert Paylor's injury.
World Rugby's citing review of the injury to paralyzed Cal player Robert Paylor has been completed, and no further penalty will be assessed to any player or coach.
(Note, while USA Rugby received a request for citing review, this ruling was referred to World Rugby citing commissioner, who then ruled on this incident.)
Paylor was injured in the final of the Varsity Cup, played between Cal and Arkansas State on May 6 in Santa Clara, CA. In the early minutes of the game, Paylor was injured in a maul, suffering an extremely serious neck injury that left him paralyzed.
University of California head coach Jack Clark announced in a statement later that the injury was the result of foul play, and the team would be pursuing additional disciplinary action.
USA Rugby ordered a citing review (through World Rugby) under a qualified citing commissioner to review the sequence of play that led to Paylor's injury.
READ MORE: Long Road Ahead For Robert Paylor
The review included study of various camera angles and still photos. Arkansas State was already penalized for collapsing the maul (the referee played advantage and Cal scored a few seconds later). However, the question is whether Paylor was driven head-first into the ground with intent.
The review concluded that while the actions of the ASU forwards were reckless, they did not constitute intent to injure and did not deserve a red card. The final report concluded that there did not appear to be any "large force" applied to Paylor's neck to drive him down and no torquing motion.
So there will be no further action. The Arkansas State players will not be additionally punished.
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