@sidbarret said in Springboks v British & Irish Lions III:
@pakman
Holy fucking shit, I thought the journalist misrepresented the finding, so I checked the WR website.
In short, they accept that there was bite-like injury to Mostert, the only possible source of the injury was Sinckler, but intention was not proven to their satisfaction.
Now I don't mean to suggest that the SC who chaired the hearing is a blithering incompetent, rather that he would have failed law of evidence at any competent university.
The standard (quoted in the decision) is that the cited player must show on the balance of probabilities that the citation must not be upheld.
So the bite-like injury was either intentional or not. I would suggest that a bite is more likely to be intentional than not, but even if the panel doesn't agree, there needs to be evidence, any evidence, to support the conclusion that it was not intentional. The standard they used here was the "beyond a reasonable doubt", which basically requires all reasonable alternatives explanations to be dismissed.
I don't know if Sinckler bit Mostert and I understand the panel not wanting to find a player guilty with limited evidence, but the mental gymnastics that they had to go through to justify their finding is absurd. The regulations, as written, are maybe wrong and if WR wants to maintain some credibility they should rewrite them ASAP.
Like you, I do not know if Sinckler did bite Mostert or not but it seems the evidence was not conclusive enough to deem it was an actual bite. The SA "expert" admitted he was not qualified to judge this issue. The BILs expert was and his evidence (shown in the wider case details) was as follows:-
"The mark demonstrates small linear elements that are consistent with superficial contact by the biting edges of human upper or lower front teeth. The mark does not demonstrate the features of the biting edges of individual upper or lower front teeth. Consequently, it is not possible to state with certainty which part of the mark was caused by a specific upper or lower front tooth.
The arrangement of the linear elements is consistent with the very slight movement of the biting edges of upper or lower front teeth on the surface of the skin.
The appearance of the mark on the right forearm of Franco Mostert supports the opinion that the mark was caused by either the very slight movement of the teeth or the very slight movement of the skin or a combination of both mechanisms. It is not possible to identify which of the three possible mechanisms of contact was responsible for the mark.
It is important to note that the mark does not demonstrate any of the features of an incisive bite mark. The appearance of the mark is consistent with a recent injury.
The degree of soft tissue injury in the mark is consistent with mild force between the biting edges of upper or lower front teeth and the skin.
Conclusions
The mark referred to in the conclusions means the mark on the right forearm of Franco Mostert.
- In my opinion, the mark was caused by superficial contact with human teeth.
- In my opinion, it is not possible to identify the mechanism of contact that caused the mark.
- The mark does not demonstrate the features of an incisive bite mark.
- The appearance of the mark is consistent with a recent injury.
- The degree of soft tissue injury in the mark is consistent with mild force between the biting edges of upper
or lower front teeth and the skin."
So, it seems the panel did have some evidence to support their decision.
Edit: Like you, I am probably of the "if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it is most likely a duck". However that is not sufficient to hang someone with.