Staff reporter
VETERAN Namibian loose forward, PJ Van Lil was pardoned after he successfully appealed against a red card decision he got during Namibia rugby team’s match against Isuzu Southern Kings in Walvis Bay.
The suspension meant that the 35-year-old Van Lill would miss Namibia’s three opening matches at the 2019 Japan Rugby World Cup against Italy, South Africa and New Zealand.
During the Saturday’s second leg match, Van Lill got into a scuffle with Southern Kings’ flanker Thembelani Bhoni and both players received red cards.
World Rugby released a statement earlier this week where the world governing body of rugby noted that no foul play was involved during the altercation.
“The player’s appeal was successful. The Appeal panel found that this was a unique case where there was no foul play in the context of the particular circumstances,” said World Rugby in a statement.
Van Lill has 50 international caps and will be making his third Rugby World Cup appearance for Namibia’s National Team.
Namibia will kick off their 2019 Rugby World Cup campaign on 22 September against Italy, followed by a clash with neighbors, South Africa on 28 September before the big one against defending champions, New Zealand on 6 October and the final game will be against Canada on 13 October 2019.
The ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup will start on 20 September and will end on 2 November 2019 in Japan.
