Wallabies lock Miles Amatosero will miss just one Test despite receiving a three-match ban from SANZAAR's Foul Play Review Committee following his red card against Japan in Osaka last weekend.
Amatosero, 24, was making his first Test start when referee Eoghan Cross issued a yellow card in the 33rd minute for a dangerous charge into a ruck or maul involving Japan lock Warner Dearns. Foul Play Review officer Matt Rodden upgraded the sanction to a 20-minute red card during the match, which Australia won 35-32.
The FPRC found Amatosero guilty of dangerous play in breach of Law 9.20(a), setting a mid-range entry point of six weeks before reducing it by three weeks in recognition of his admission of guilt, clean disciplinary record and remorse. The resulting three-match ban covers this Saturday's return Test against Japan in Queensland, a Shute Shield fixture for Gordon on 22 August — a match he would not have featured in regardless — and the first Rugby Championship Test against Argentina on 29 August, for which he has been granted permission to apply for World Rugby's Coaching Intervention Programme as a substitute sanction.
The practical effect is that Amatosero misses only the Japan fixture in Queensland, with the ban structured to consume matches that carry little or no cost to the Wallabies. He is expected to be available for the second Test against Argentina and the one-off Test against the Springboks, as well as the back-to-back Bledisloe Cup Tests in October.
Amatosero's absence this weekend is partially offset by the return of Tom Hooper, called into the squad ahead of the Osaka Test after recovering from the shoulder injury he sustained against Ireland in the opening Test of the year.