No further disciplinary punishment has been taken against any player following the weekend’s second Ashes Test between England and Australia, leaving Reece Walsh available for selection at Headingley on Saturday.
Walsh, the man-of-the-match at Wembley in the first of this autumn’s three games, was at the heart of two controversial moments at Everton FC’s Hill Dickinson Stadium in game two.
In the first half of Saturday’s second Test, full-back Walsh was penalised for a high shot on Dom Young as he prevented the England winger scoring in the corner.
He escaped a card for that incident, with only the penalty given, but was eventually sin-binned with circa 15 minutes of the contest remaining for making contact with Young mid-air as the pair jumped for a kick in the corner.
That incident left Young needing treatment and sparked a melee between the two sides, but no further action has been taken: so Walsh is free to play this weekend at Headingley.
England and Australia stars including Reece Walsh escape bans ahead of third Ashes Test
The same can be said for England winger Young and Australia powerhouse Tino Fa’asuamaleaui.
Young and Fa’asuamaleaui were sin-binned less than two minutes into the second Test on Merseyside for their leading roles in an early melee between the two sides following an altercation in a tackle involving Jez Litten.
A statement confirmed: “The International Match Review Panel (Paul Cullen RFL, Luke Patten NRL) have reviewed Saturday’s match and accepted all on-field decisions.
“Therefore no incidents have been deemed sufficient to warrant further action under the international rules in operation for this series.”
Notably, full-back Walsh may not feature for Australia at Headingley, anyway. Kevin Walters’ side were 26-6 winners at Wembley on October 25 and then 14-4 winners at the Hill Dickinson on Saturday, so have already sewn this autumn’s series up.
The tourists could complete a 3-0 series whitewash with victory at Headingley this Saturday, November 8, with England now playing for only pride in attempting to avoid that happening on home soil.