Hurricanes openside flanker Ardie Savea has been cited following an incident in Saturday's pre-season clash with the Chiefs in Mangatainoka.
Savea was cited for an alleged dangerous tackle in the 78th minute of a match won by the Chiefs.
Citing Commissioner Steve Hinds cited Savea under law 10.4(j) for an alleged lifting tackle on Chiefs replacement half-back Augustine Pulu.
Savea will face a judicial hearing, to be conducted by video-conference, with Judicial Officer Nigel Hampton QC on Tuesday, February 19.
If the citing is upheld and a sanction is imposed, any ban will carry over into Super Rugby, which starts on Saturday for the Hurricanes.
Comments
ferdie says...
obviously where WAS enough evidence, contradiciting the NZ report I'd read:
Hurricanes' flanker Ardie Savea has been banned for four weeks for a dangerous tackle in a Super Rugby preseason match.
Judicial officer Nigel Hampton QC said the tackle was "clumsy with elements of recklessness".
Savea's poor technique had contributed to the dangerous nature of the tackle as he lost control, posing potential risk of injury to Pulu's neck or head.
Hampton said Savea was a young player with a clean disciplinary record.
"The player has acknowledged the tackle was poorly executed and I have considered his early admission of fault as being in his favour," Hampton said.
"I deem the tackle to be in the mid-range of seriousness. Taking into account all the mitigating factors, and this young man's impressive character and conduct through this process, I have decided a sanction of no less than four weeks is appropriate," he said.
Savea is suspended from all forms of rugby up to and including Saturday March 16.
Posted 01:32 19th February 2013
ferdie says...
an interesting one - pre-season, not televised, no video footage (?), no TMO at the game. Local Wairarapa news report i read said the asst ref flagged the tackle but referee took no action on the incident, instead blowing whistle to end the game.
Not defending it if it was a dangerous tackle, but given the situation, if above is correct, difficult to prove when in the past we've heard of endless video replays etc.
Posted 00:00 19th February 2013
markpat says...
78th minute of a pre-season game? I didn't see the tackle, obviously, but that would be a disappointing way to delay your first super rugby cap for a player who has the potential to be one of the break-out players this season.
Posted 13:52 18th February 2013