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Bulls prop gets 3-game ban for horror tackle

Cape Town - Bulls prop Conraad van Vuuren has been suspended for three weeks after being found guilty of foul play.

Van Vuuren was cited after the Bulls’ 41-28 loss to the Chiefs in Hamilton last weekend.

He received a yellow card in the match for a late and high tackle on Chiefs fullback Damian McKenzie.

However, Van Vuuren was cited afterwards when the citing commissioner deemed that the incident had met the red card threshold for foul play.

SANZAAR’s foul play review committee accepted a guilty plea from Van Vuuren for contravening Law 9.13 - a player must not tackle an opponent early, late or dangerously.

Van Vuuren has subsequently been suspended from all forms of the game for three weeks, up to and including Saturday, April 14.

The SANZAAR foul play review committee of Nigel Hampton QC (chairperson), Stefan Terblanche and John Langford assessed the case.

In his finding, Hampton ruled the following:

"Having conducted a detailed review of all the available evidence, including all camera angles and additional evidence, including submissions from his legal representative, Adrian Montzinger, the foul play review committee upheld the citing under Law 9.13. This was an objectively dangerous tackle.

"With respect to sanction the foul play review committee deemed the act of foul play merited a mid-range entry point of six weeks due to the lateness of the tackle and the player’s direct contact to his opponent’s head. However, taking into account mitigating factors including the player's youth, his clean judicial record and his guilty plea at the earliest possible opportunity, the foul play review committee reduced the suspension to three weeks."

"The player is therefore suspended for three weeks, up to and including the Saturday, April 14, 2018.”

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 person appearing must plead guilty and accept the penalty offered by the foul play review committee.

Van Vuuren’s ban will see him miss Friday’s clash against the Crusaders in Christchurch (March 23), as well as their matches against the Stormers in Pretoria (March 31, Pretoria) and Sharks in Durban (April 14).

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