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Cape Town - Stormers centre Shaun Treeby has been cited for alleged foul play during the Super Rugby match against the Blues at Newlands on Friday night.
As it happened: Stormers v Blues
Treeby is alleged to have contravened Law 10.4(e) Dangerous tackling of an Opponent.
Treeby's arm made contact with the head of Blues flyhalf Piers Francis in the 47th minute, knocking the pivot unconscious.
Francis was forced to leave the leave on a stretcher, while, unbelievably to those in Blues management, South African referee Jaco van Heerden and compatriot TMO Shaun Veldsman ruled the tackle merited no more than a penalty to the visitors.
However, despite having access to the same footage as Veldsman in the TMO booth, the Citing Commissioner post-match deemed the incident not only warranted a yellow card, but met the red card threshold for foul play.
At the time of the incident the Blues led 19-10, but the Stormers would go on to win 30-22.
The case is to be considered in the first instance by the SANZAAR Foul Play Review Committee which will take place on Sunday, May 21 at 11:00 via video-conference.
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.
Any post-match ban for Treeby will be of little consolation to the Blues, while not for the first time in his TMO career, Veldsman's judgement and competence has once again been called in question.
