Ireland centre Bundee Aki misses rest of the World Cup after red card is upheld

Ireland's Bundee Aki will miss the rest of the World Cup after an independent Judicial Committee upheld the red card shown to him by referee Nic Berry for a dangerous tackle in their final Pool A game against Samoa.

The committee came to the conclusion, after using the High Tackle Sanction Framework, that on the balance of probabilities the referee’s decision was not wrong and, taking into account mitigating factors, issued a three-week suspension.

That means the centre will not be available for Ireland’s quarter-final with New Zealand on Saturday or any future games at the tournament.

If Joe Schmidt’s side exit before the final week in Japan then the ban will extend to games with his club Connacht.

Bookmakers seemingly factored Aki’s likely punishment into their early prices and there were no changes to the main tournament markets.

The All Blacks are still 11-8 for a title hat-trick and Ireland, 9-2 to stun the Kiwis for a third time in four meetings, remain 18-1 for glory.

Aki’s likely replacement Garry Ringrose is 4-1 to score a try. He has dotted down twice this tournament already.

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