Pretoria - The SANZAR judicial officer Jannie Lubbe has accepted a guilty plea from Butch James of the Sharks for a dangerous tackle on Bulls' Jurgen Visser, after he was cited during Saturday's Super Rugby match between the two teams.
Lubbe has subsequently suspended James from all forms of the game for four weeks.
The incident occurred in the 72nd minute of the match, for which James was sent to the sin-bin for the remainder of the match by referee Jason Jaftha.
VIDEO: Butch James 'decapitates' Jurgen Visser
In a statement released by SANZAR, Lubbe ruled the following:
"After careful consideration was given to the video evidence of the incident, the citing report, the report of the referee, the previous disciplinary record of the player and his playing commitments in the future.
"A teleconference was held where his representative Rudolf Straeuli of the Sharks made submissions on behalf of the player.
"The Sharks team manager, Trevor Barnes, was also in attendance on the call.
"Lubbe determined that the player should be suspended for a period of four weeks from July 6 up to and including August 4 2013.
"The sanction was offered to the player who accepted the proposed sanction.
"The player was accordingly suspended from all rugby from July 6 to August 4, 2013."
Lubbe has subsequently suspended James from all forms of the game for four weeks.
The incident occurred in the 72nd minute of the match, for which James was sent to the sin-bin for the remainder of the match by referee Jason Jaftha.
VIDEO: Butch James 'decapitates' Jurgen Visser
In a statement released by SANZAR, Lubbe ruled the following:
"After careful consideration was given to the video evidence of the incident, the citing report, the report of the referee, the previous disciplinary record of the player and his playing commitments in the future.
"A teleconference was held where his representative Rudolf Straeuli of the Sharks made submissions on behalf of the player.
"The Sharks team manager, Trevor Barnes, was also in attendance on the call.
"Lubbe determined that the player should be suspended for a period of four weeks from July 6 up to and including August 4 2013.
"The sanction was offered to the player who accepted the proposed sanction.
"The player was accordingly suspended from all rugby from July 6 to August 4, 2013."