Lock forward Adrian Motoc has been cleared to play in Romania's World Cup opener against Ireland after having the red card he collected against Italy at the weekend overturned by an independent judicial committee on Thursday.
The 27-year-old Agen second row was sent off by referee Luke Pearce after 10 minutes of Romania's 57-7 thrashing in San Benedetto del Tronto on Saturday, after he led with his head while clearing out Italy captain Michele Lamaro at a ruck.
The disciplinary committee, however, ruled that "had it not been for the sudden and significant movements" of Lamaro, who was removing himself from the ruck to re-join the defensive line, "the player would not have made contact" with the Italian skipper.
"Had it not been for this mitigating factor, the player’s actions would have been legitimate.
"On that basis, the committee did not uphold the red card and the player is free to play again immediately."
Romania lost all three of their warm-up fixtures against USA, Georgia and Italy and face a tough World Cup as they head into Pool B alongside Ireland, defending champions South Africa, Scotland and Tonga.