The Committee, under the chairmanship of Noel Murphy and in line with the procedures set out in the tournament manual, upheld the complaint made by Wales and found that France had breached rule 3.5 (d), namely the failure to provide a suitably experienced player to cover as a replacement for injuries to two front row players.
During the match, referee Lombardi of Italy was forced to declare uncontested scrums owing to the fact that France could not replace a second front row injury.
As a result of this breach and consistent with the options available to it, the Committee decided that the result of the match should be overturned and recorded as a victory to Wales. Wales therefore finish the competition in fifth place and France sixth.
Wales coach Chris Davey said, “It is welcome news and it is great to see our name up their in fifth, but a result on the day would have been much more enjoyable.
“I was fully confident that the decision would go our way because the requirements over providing cover for the front-row are perfectly clear but it is not the most satisfactory of situations.
“This was the first time this has happened at the Under-21 World Cup so the authorities had to take their time to make sure they got it right.
“But hopefully the precedence has now been set and in future teams will know what they must and must not do and so these things can be resolved much earlier, if not on the day.”
