9 Nov 2011

IRB consider change after World Cup eye gouge

8:49 am on 9 November 2011

The International Rugby Board is considering a change to disciplinary procedures after being prevented from acting upon evidence of serious foul play during last month's New Zealand-France World Cup final.

A statement from the IRB says the sport's controlling body is considering increasing the length of the window in which individuals can be cited following the apparent eye-gouging of the All Blacks captain Richie McCaw by the French centre Aurelien Rougerie late in the World Cup final.

But because the TV footage only emerged more than 36 hours after the match, the IRB's citing commissioner was unable to act on the evidence.