Lochner's red card rescinded, freeing Springbok lock to face Italy in WXV

Danelle Lochner has been cleared to play immediately after the Foul Play Review Committee rescinded the red card she received during South Africa’s 50-19 WXV Global Series defeat to Wales in Cardiff.

The Harlequins lock was shown a 20-minute red card during the Springbok Women’s opening WXV fixture, a result that left co-head coach Renée Johannes-Haupt frustrated by her side’s discipline. The hearing, chaired by Philippe Cavalieros of France and joined by former referees Donal Courtney of Ireland and Juan Pablo Spirendelli of Argentina, took place on Tuesday 22 September.

The committee concluded that the incident did meet the red card threshold but that mitigating circumstances existed. On that basis, the card was dismissed and Lochner was cleared to feature against Italy in Pordenone this weekend as South Africa look to recover from their opening-round loss.

“We did ourselves no favours with our discipline,” Johannes-Haupt said after the Wales defeat. “Wales really came hard at us in that first half and our response was not good enough. We conceded too many penalties and those two cards really cost us. Obviously, we did not prepare to play like that, so it was a huge disappointment for all of us, as we let ourselves down. That is not our standard and that is not the team we are.”

The ruling comes alongside disciplinary verdicts for two French players following their red cards against Australia in Aix-en-Provence. Cloé Correa received a straight red card for making contact with an opponent’s eye, but the review found the act was neither direct nor deliberate. Despite the dismissal being overturned in nature, she will still miss France’s Test against Canada in La Rochelle and their first Test against the Black Ferns in New Zealand.

Teammate Ambre Mwayembe, who was shown a 20-minute red card for a dangerous tackle, has been handed a three-match ban. That suspension will be reduced by one game upon the successful completion of a coaching intervention programme.