Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada has been suspended for two matches by World Rugby for his comments towards match officials after their defeat to New Zealand
Quesada has been suspended under World Rugby's new Match Official Abuse Sanction Process, introduced at the start of the month.
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The former Los Pumas star made his thoughts clear after his side's 47-17 defeat to the All Blacks in Wellington, complaining about several calls as he called French referee Luc Ramos "super poor" in another interivew.
And to be totally honest, I think its part of the quality of the All Blacks, part that we were a bit disorganised, and I think it’s also… the score is a bit responsibility of the refereeing team. They did a lot of mistakes today," he said post match.
“I think that the final score doesn’t reflect completely the game.
"...I think the 20-minute red card on our number four, Niccolo Cannone, held up on the floor by [All Black] 17 and not even seeing it, is a bit harsh. I think the yellow on [Ruben] Love, their number 10. It’s a yellow, and I will stop there because I can continue on. I don’t want to speak about that honestly.
“It was tough to defend the try where they they allow them to play a quick penalty with two injured players of Italy plus yellow card."
This caught the ire of World Rugby, handing down the first-of-its-kind ban ahead of Saturday's clash with the Wallabies.
"In line with the provisions of the Match Official Abuse Sanction Process, World Rugby can confirm that an automatic two-match suspension has been issued to Gonzalo Quesada (Italy Head Coach), which includes a ban on all match-day activity, including being present in the stadium, as a result of comments made in broadcast, and subsequently reported, following the Nations Championship match against New Zealand on 11 July," the statement said.
"Under the process, Quesada has the right to appeal the sanction to a full judicial committee hearing.
"Agreed at recent Shape of The Game forum and starting this July, World Rugby has introduced a new Match Official Abuse Sanction Process, featuring across all international rugby fixtures involving World Rugby appointed match officials. This includes the World Rugby Junior World Championship, WXV Global Series and Challenger, the World Rugby Nations Cup and the Nations Championship - the new elite tournament owned and operated by Six Nations Rugby and SANZAAR.
"The Match Official Abuse Sanction Process is targeted at reducing comments which often are the basis of the unacceptable increase in abuse and threats towards match officials."
