Cowra Eagles Rugby Club has accepted the process and outcome of a Central West Rugby Union (CWRU) judiciary hearing on Wednesday night, which resulted in Navitalai Bola being handed a 10-game suspension for foul play.
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After a thorough deliberation process the judicial panel ruled Bola to have been in breach of law 9.12 of World Rugby's laws of the game, which governs foul play, and as it stands will be sidelined for 10 games as result.
The decision rules Bola out of the remainder of the regular season however should the Eagles push deep enough into the post-season, he will be due to return to the field midway through the finals.
Bola was cited and summoned to face the judiciary following an incident in the Eagles' Blowes Clothing Cup round six fixture against Orange City on Saturday, May 18, which resulted in Lions captain Josh Tremain being left unconscious, hospitalised and ultimately ruled out for the remainder of the season.
That citing was handed down by the governing body's independent citing commissioner after Orange City Rugby Club's initial written complaint following the incident was received and passed on as per procedure outlined in CWRU's by-laws.
That step was taken by Orange City due to the fact the incident happened behind the play and as such referee Mitch Dwyer and his touch officials were left unsighted, and thus unable to hand out punishment or submit any reports.
The details and grading of the citing commissioner's citing remain unconfirmed, as does what evidence the Cowra and Orange City clubs provided during the hearing.
As section 12.10 of CWRU's by-laws outlines Orange City still has the right to appeal and that right must be exercised in writing no later than seven days after notification of the decision.
Both Cowra Eagles Rugby Club and Orange City Rugby Club declined to make comment on the matter.
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Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
