The second Ashes Test between England and Australia was a feisty one to say the least and a disciplinary verdict has now been returned.
The Kangaroos claimed the win at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium in front of a sell out crowd, edging out their hosts 14-4. That was a result that wrapped up the series win, following on from their comfortable victory at Wembley seven days previous.
With England failing to get over the line in Merseyside, efforts from Cameron Munster and Hudson Young were enough to claim the win, with England’s points coming from the boot of Harry Smith.
It was an aggressive and hard fought encounter and ultimately, there were more sin-binnings than tries in the second Test with Dom Young, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and Reece Walsh all being shown yellow cards.
Young and Fa’asuamaleaui were punished inside the opening few minutes of the game with the pair being heavily involved in a scuffle that broke out between the two sides. Reece Walsh avoided a yellow for a high shot on Young later in the first half, with video referee Jack Smith coming to the conclusion that Walsh’s arm had hit Young’s shoulder first before sliding up.
The superstar full-back was eventually sin-binned in the second half, though, after taking Young out in the air.
Disciplinary verdict reached
Despite all that, no player has been punished by the International Match Review Panel. The panel, made up of Paul Cullen from the RFL and Luke Patten from down under, met on Monday morning, but they reached the conclusion that all the on-field decisions were sufficient.
A statement released on Monday morning read: “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.”
Super League official Liam Moore took charge of the first Test at Wembley before Australian Grant Atkins refereed the second encounter.
The match officials for the third Test at Headingley on Saturday are expected to be confirmed on Tuesday morning.
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