Lions Flanker Michael Rhodes has been banned for 6 weeks by a SANZAR judiciary for a dangerous tackle on Highlanders winger Siale Piutau.
The incident occurred in the 59th minute of the game played this past weekend which the Lions won 26 – 22 courtesy of a last gasp Wikus van Heerden try
Pitau, who was also cited and found guilty of foul play for punching, escaped any punishment as the judicial officer Nick Davidson ruled he responded to “exceptional circumstances”, and that to sanction him “would not reflect the effect on Piutau of the incident and a reaction that was the product of shock rather than retaliatory intent”.
Davidson found that Rhodes had flipped Piutau over during the incident ”placing his head and neck at serious risk of injury”.
Davidson banned Rhodes from all Rugby until July 31st, meaning that the up and coming Lions tearaway flanker will miss the rest of the Lions Super Rugby campaign as well as the Golden Lions first 3 fixtures of the 2011 Currie Cup campaign.
The Lions have not indicated whether they will appeal the sentence or not.
Earlier this month Hurricanes halfback Tyson Keats was suspended for four weeks for a similar tackle on Blues player Alby Mathewson.
May 31st, 2011 at 09:17 SAST
On the video evidence available to Joe Public it is probably a fair sentence. Tough, but fair.
May 31st, 2011 at 09:46 SAST
Should the headline not read ” Dirty ex Sharks player banned for foul play”?
May 31st, 2011 at 09:58 SAST
So it is now open season for retaliation?
Did Rhodes plead guilty or not guilty?
May 31st, 2011 at 14:07 SAST
It did look bad durig the game…. I think this is deserved
May 31st, 2011 at 15:48 SAST
poor new zealanders … such sensitive souls!!
anyway, wonder whether one can become so shocked by a poor referee decision, that you can just punch the bastard
AND
escape any punishment?
May 31st, 2011 at 15:49 SAST
loosehead @ 3
exactly!!
May 31st, 2011 at 16:01 SAST
Geez Michael you’ve only been in Texas for 5 minutes and now you’re acting like them!!!
May 31st, 2011 at 16:45 SAST
WOOOOOOOOOOW!!! Really?
Ok, so Rhodes probably deserved his ban. And since he was not punished during the game, it probably added to the length of the ban. Im ok with that. Intentional or not, it was dangerous.
What GETS (replace this with whatever else you seem fit) me, is that this is the second incident in a row where a player (lets forget where he is from, SA, Aus or NZ) punched another player (again, lets forget where he is from), with reported clear shots to the head, and got of it scot free. I think at least a one week ban should have been placed on Piatua, to keep some kind of precedent.
The message that SANZAR is sending out is “If you feel like you were wronged, or put into a dangerous position, you MAY PUNCH THE GUY. Its ok.”
As a point of interest, I would really like to see what happens to a SA player when he retaliates to foul play with a punch.
Just my thought.
May 31st, 2011 at 17:04 SAST
@ Greenpoint-Gunner:
Agree with both points.
They may
We may NOT
May 31st, 2011 at 19:24 SAST
At least theres comfort in knowing that we punch harder.
June 1st, 2011 at 10:24 SAST
4man @ 10
