SCOTLAND'S chances of achieving a first win over Argentina at Under-20 level today at Calvisano have been dealt a blow after their influential lock Lewis Carmichael was handed a hefty nine-week ban for foul play in Saturday's defeat to Ireland.
A statement from World Rugby read: "Scotland second-row Lewis Carmichael was cited for an act of foul play contrary to Law 10.4(m) [an act contrary to good sportsmanship - contact with the eye or eye area] in their match against Ireland on 6 June, 2015. The player appeared at a hearing in Brescia before Judicial Officer Antony Davies [England] on 8 June.
The incident happened in a maul when Carmichael, in the view of the independent match commissioner, made hand contact with an Irish opponent, which could be interpreted as a gouge. A Scottish Rugby spokesman said: "We are disappointed by the outcome of the hearing, and the subsequent suspension of lock Lewis Carmichael. Appeal options may be considered following a review of the written judicial report."
The heavy sanction means that the former North Berwick High School second row, who has scored two tries for Scotland in the World Rugby Under-20 Championship, will take no further part in the tournament and moreover will miss the early part of the 2015-16 domestic season.
Carmichael's suspension comes in the wake of a two-match ban imposed on the Stirling County centre Archie Russell who was cited for a dangerous tackle during Scotland's 68-10 defeat to New Zealand.
Thus far there have been four players who have been asked to attend disciplinary hearings, two from Scotland, one from Samoa and one from New Zealand. Samoan hooker Elia Elia received a two-match ban for a "dangerous" tackle but no sanction was applied to Junior All Black Luteru Laulala for "tackling a player in the air" in New Zealand's match against Argentina last Saturday.
"It's hard, but the boys have got to learn." said Scotland Under-20 head coach Sean Lineen, adding: "We can't start moaning and groaning. We just have to move on and look at how we can tackle Argentina.
"We still have the chance of achieving a place in the middle group if we become the first Scotland Under-20 team to beat Argentina. We showed tremendous strength and character by coming back against Ireland. But we need to do that from the start.
"This is a young group of players, and they're not used to playing in the heat. We will take on a very good Argentina team who are all men. But it's a chance to find out how tough we are mentally and physically," insisted Lineen.
Argentina will go into today's game as massive favourites following their impressive performance on Saturday in which they took New Zealand to the wire before losing 29-32. Significantly all their tries came from powerful forward play an area in which Scotland will need to be at their best to counter this threat.
Scotland Under-20 (v Argentina under-20) B Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby); R Nairn (Harlequins), A Coombes (London Scottish), P Kelly (Le Parc), R Galloway (University of Birmingham); R Hutchinson (Northampton Saints), B Vellacott (Gloucester/Hartpury College); M McCallum (Aberdeen Grammar Rugby), S James (Bedford Blues), Z Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors), S Cummings (Glasgow Warriors/Glasgow Hawks), N Irvine-Hess (Melrose), A Miller (Edinburgh Rugby/Watsonians), L Wynne (Stirling County), M Bradbury (Edinburgh Rugby) Replacements R Graham (Hawick), D Elkington (Watsonians), J Owlett (Exeter University), A Davidson (Glasgow Warriors/Glasgow Hawks), R Knott (Melrose), G Horne (Glasgow Hawks), R Smith (Currie), J Ritchie (Edinburgh Rugby)
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