Ireland's Beirne has red card for Barrett tackle rescinded

Ireland lock Tadhg Beirne has had the red card he was shown for a dangerous tackle on New Zealand's Beauden Barrett in last weekend's test in Chicago rescinded by an independent disciplinary committee.

Beirne was initially shown a yellow card for barging into Barrett at close quarters and briefly making contact with the flyhalf's face, but it was upgraded to red on review.

"The disciplinary committee accepted the player's submissions that while an act of foul play had occurred, it did not meet the red card threshold," the committee said in its ruling on Tuesday.

"The 20-minute red card was thus rescinded. As a result, the player is now free to play and available for selection this weekend."

Beirne, 33, is now free to play against Japan in Dublin on Saturday, when Ireland will be looking to get back to winning ways after going down 26-13 to the All Blacks in Chicago.