Scotland To Appeal World Cup-Ending Bans

Meanwhile, Scotland prop Gordon Reid hopes Scotland can script themselves a victory of Hollywood proportions when they take on World Cup A-listers Australia.

“What’s going on with the citings?”

Laidlaw’s points haul matches the 60 scored by Chris Paterson in the group stage of the 2003 tournament but is a few way short of the 89 managed by Gavin Hastings at the pool phase of the World Cup in 1995. “This is a shameful decision”.

Edinburgh Rugby hooker Ford and Glasgow Warriors second row Gray were hit with the suspensions following tackles made in Scotland’s 36-33 win over Samoa last Saturday, which secured the Scots’ participation in this weekend’s quarter-finals.

Their two-man tip tackle put Samoa flanker Jack Lam on his head.

Ireland’s Sean O’Brien was given a mere one-week ban for punching Pascal Pape of France, while South Africa’s JP Pietersen got off scot-free despite dropping Scotland’s Tim Swinson on his neck when the teams met two weeks ago.

He said: “We’re disappointed for the two boys but for the rest of us we’ve all got a job to do”.

Both men are vital members of the Scottish pack and head coach Vern Cotter will be loath to lose either of them for the Dark Blues’ first World Cup quarter-final in eight years at Twickenham.

“No, I don’t think it has lost something”. There is no sense that we can be intimidated by them.

Although there has been a tendency to debate citings and bans in the context of tier-one nations versus tier-two nations, it should be a more nuanced debate than that. So nothing, not even the prospect of a few citing official with a zoom lens and a whole load of free time, is unlikely to distract Scotland’s breakdown battlers from the challenge in hand.

As ever, it is the players who suffer, scarcely able to go about their necessarily vigorous, and occasionally unsafe, business without landing themselves in a few sort of trouble.

Scottish Rugby has appealed against the suspensions that have ruled Jonny Gray and Ross Ford out of the remainder of the Rugby World Cup.

Scottish Rugby today confirmed they will appeal bans against Ross Ford and Jonny Gray.

They were cited after Scotland’s final pool match against Samoa.

Despite being told their offence was at the “lower end” of the disciplinary scale neither Ford or Gray will figure again in Scotland’s campaign and the entire squad believe they were harshly treated.

At a training session in Guildford, southwest of London on Wednesday (14 October), back rower Strauss said: “Obviously, when I heard it – personally, I can only speak for myself – I was angry, you know”.