SAINT-ETIENNE (Reuters) – Portugal winger Vincent Pinto has been banned for two games for kicking Wales’s Josh Adams in the head while jumping to catch a high ball in a World Cup match in Nice last weekend.
Pinto was shown a yellow card, later upgraded to red, for the incident late in the Pool C match and his argument that it failed to meet the threshold for dismissal fell on fallow ground at a judicial hearing on Tuesday.
The French-born 24-year-old will miss Saturday’s clash with Georgia in Toulouse and Portugal’s third pool game against Australia but will be able to play against Fiji on Oct. 8 if he undergoes a World Rugby coaching intervention programme.
There was better news on Tuesday for his team mate Rafael Simoes, who was cleared to play against Georgia after a disciplinary hearing cleared him of a dangerous tackle.
The number eight was cited after the 28-8 loss to Wales but, while admitting that he had committed a foul, successfully submitted that it did not meet the red-card threshold.
Portugal coach Patrice Lagisquet will name his team for the Georgia match on Thursday.
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney, editing by Toby Davis)
