All Blacks centre Quinn Tupaea has suffered a ruptured medial cruciate ligament (MCL) and partial anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) following an awful ‘attempted’ clearout by Darcy Swain.
The incident happened late in the first half as Tupaea looked to compete for the ball at the breakdown. Swain came in from the side and targeted the leg, resulting in the New Zealander being immediately replaced.
It has since been confirmed that the 23-year-old will miss the rest of year and could be out of action for a significant portion of the 2023 Super Rugby campaign.
Swain’s case to be heard on Monday
The citing commissioner has deemed that Swain’s actions met the red card threshold and his case will be heard on Monday, September 19.
A SANZAAR statement said: “Darcy Swain of the Brumbies has been cited for alleged foul play during the Rugby Championship match on Thursday 15 September 2022.
“Swain is alleged to have contravened Law 9.11: Players must not do anything that is reckless and dangerous to others, during the match between Australia and New Zealand at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.”
The All Blacks were unsurprisingly angry at the actions of the Australian second-row, who was only yellow carded for his indiscretion.
Swain has form already this season after being sent-off for headbutting England lock Jonny Hill in the Wallabies’ opening Test of the July series.
“We’ve got a big issue with it (the play by Swain), we’ve got a player who’s probably going to be out for nine months,” New Zealand head coach Ian Foster said.
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“You’re not allowed to target legs on the side and clean out past the ball. The rules are pretty clear.”
Second ban looming for Swain?
Should Swain be banned, he will miss Australia’s final match of the Rugby Championship against the All Blacks in Auckland next weekend.
He received a two-week suspension following his red card against the Red Rose earlier this year and, should the lock be found to have contravened Law 9.11, this will likely be longer given his past misdemeanour.
Wallabies boss Dave Rennie took a different view to the New Zealand set-up, however, arguing that the initial decision from referee Mathieu Raynal was harsh.
“I’m not convinced about Darcy’s (yellow card),” Rennie said. “It was certainly nothing intentional. Ironically, he got neck-rolled prior to him cleaning out, but that wasn’t picked up.”