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Cape Town - The SANZAAR Foul Play Review Committee has accepted a guilty plea from Stormers centre Shaun Treeby for contravening Law 10.4(e) Dangerous tackling of an Opponent, after he was cited following the Super Rugby clash against the Blues at Newlands on Friday night.
Treeby has been suspended from all forms of the game for three weeks, up to and including Saturday, June 10.
In reality, Treeby will only miss one Super Rugby match - the Stormers' clash against the Sharks in Durban on Saturday (kick-off at 17:15).
The incident occurred in the 47th minute of the match when Treeby's arm knocked Blues flyhalf Piers Francis unconscious. Francis was forced to leave the field on stretcher and in all likelihood will miss the Blues' next match against the Chiefs in Auckland on Friday (09:35 SA time).
The ban will be of scant consolation to the Blues who were left angered by referee Jaco van Heerden and TMO Shaun Veldsman who ruled that the incident merited no more than a penalty for the visitors.
The SANZAAR Foul Play Review Committee of Nigel Hampton QC (chairperson), Stefan Terblanche and Stephen Hardy assessed the case.
In his finding, Hampton QC ruled the following:
"Having conducted a detailed review of all the available evidence, including all camera angles and additional evidence, as well as an explanation from the player and submissions from his legal representative, Thembelani Mayosi, the Foul Play Review Committee upheld the citing under Law 10.4(e)"
"With respect to sanction the Foul Play Review Committee deemed the act of foul play merited a mid-range entry point of 6 weeks. However, taking into account mitigating factors including the Player's excellent Judicial record over a long professional career and his early guilty plea the Foul Play Review Committee reduced the suspension to 3 weeks."
"The player is therefore suspended for three weeks, up to and including the Saturday, June 10.”
All SANZAAR disciplinary matters are in the first instance referred to the Foul Play Review Committee to provide the option of expediting the judicial process.
For a matter to be dispensed with at this hearing, the player appearing must plead guilty and accept the penalty offered by the Foul Play Review Committee.
