World Cup organizers issued a statement saying the players were cleared to play after an appeal hearing in London headed by Lex Mpati of South Africa.
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“The players are therefore free to play again immediately”.
The forwards successfully appealed three-week suspensions which were imposed for allegedly unsafe tackles in the Pool B victory over Samoa last weekend. Judicial Officer Christopher Quinlan QC deemed the players guilty of the offence and a three-week ban was given to each player, ruling them out for the remainder of the tournament.
The decision to ban the duo angered the Scotland camp, with chief executive Mark Dodson labelling the punishment “unduly harsh”.
A “robust appeal” was launched against the length of the suspensions.
Both players were left out of Vern Cotter’s match-day squad for the quarter final clash with the Wallabies at Twickenham, but the kiwi coach can make changes to his squad up until an hour before kcik off at 4pm.
But despite getting pre-match boost, Dodson is angry the Scots have been made to fret on the case all week.
Scotland are yet to confirm whether Gray and Ford will now come back into the team.
“They are available to us and we are considering our options”, Scotland spokesman Michael James said. “Ross and Jonny are now free to rejoin the tournament, ahead of the biggest game for Scottish Rugby in recent years”, the SRU said in a statement.
“It is regrettable that this has overshadowed a massive week and hugely disappointing that Ross and Jonny were put in this position by a judicial process which is inconsistent and unfair”.
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Cowan said the absence of a “phenomenal” Pocock in the Wallabies’ back row didn’t diminish the challenge of winning the breakdown battle.
