Italy head coach Gonzalo Quesada will miss only Saturday's Nations Championship clash with Australia in Perth after an independent disciplinary panel cut his two-match suspension to one game.
Quesada was banned after criticising referee Luc Ramos following Italy's 47-17 defeat to New Zealand in Wellington, an outburst that breached World Rugby's new match official abuse guidelines, which came into effect this month. The Argentine had been automatically suspended for two matches before requesting a hearing.
World Rugby confirmed on Friday that the independent panel had reduced the sanction to one game, accompanied by a public apology and a formal warning over future conduct. The panel ruled that the threshold for misconduct had been met, but took into account Quesada's acceptance that his actions fell short of the expected standard and his private written apology to Ramos.
In a statement, Quesada said he deeply regretted the incident and wanted to apologise publicly. "I have apologised privately to Luc Ramos and want to do so publicly," he said. "He is a referee who deserves to officiate at this level, and I have the utmost respect for him, as for all match officials. Discussions about refereeing should take place in the appropriate places, and not in public — the words of us coaches and players carry weight and can contribute to criticism or abuse of referees, particularly on social media."
Quesada had lashed out in a television interview after the loss in Wellington, describing the French official's performance as "super poor" and also questioning the Nations Championship scheduling.
The controversy centred on a yellow card shown to lock Niccolò Cannone for a head-butt, later upgraded to a red, which left Italy to play the final half-hour with 14 men. Cannone himself was handed a four-match suspension.
The Azzurri, beaten in their opening Nations Championship fixture by the All Blacks, will look to bounce back against the Wallabies without their head coach on the sidelines.
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