Melbourne Rebels star Taniela Tupou cleared to play in Super final round
Taniela Tupou is free to play in Melbourne’s maiden Super Rugby Pacific finals campaign after his citing for dangerous play was dismissed.
The Wallabies prop faced a ban of up to three games for cleaning out lock Darcy Swain high in the 65th minute of Friday night’s 53-17 loss to the ACT Brumbies.
Despite the incident going unpunished during the clash in Canberra, the SANZAAR judiciary found Tupou met the red card threshold.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.His case was heard by a SANZAAR foul play review committee on Monday night who disagreed with the judiciary.
Committee Chair Stephen Hardy said Tupou’s actions didn’t meet the red card threshold and instead merited a warning.
He said that there was no head contact or significant injury, which may have changed the judicial outcome.
“Having conducted a detailed review of all the available evidence ... the Foul Play Review Committee found the foul play did not reach the red card threshold,” Hardy wrote in his finding.
“With respect to sanction the Foul Play Review Committee deemed the act of foul play merited a warning as it was close to, but did not reach the red card threshold.
“In light of the above, the citing was dismissed with a warning sanction imposed on the player for the offence.”
The seventh-placed Rebels are assured of making the finals for the first time in the beleaguered club’s 14-year history.
They will finish anywhere from sixth to eighth depending on the outcome of their last-round clash with Fijian Drua in Lautoka on Saturday.
Rugby Australia is still to decide if the financially-stricken franchise will feature in next year’s competition.
