All Blacks captain Sam Cane. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
- New
Zealand captain Sam Cane was suspended for two matches on Monday for a
dangerous tackle, which saw him become the first player to be red-carded
in a Rugby World Cup final. - Cane
was initially sent to the bin, but his yellow was upgraded to a red
following a hit on Springbok Jesse Kriel. - World
Rugby’s mandatory minimum mid-range entry point for foul play resulting in
head contact is normally a six-match ban.
New Zealand captain Sam Cane was suspended for
two matches on Monday for a dangerous tackle, which saw him become the first
player to be red-carded in a Rugby World Cup final.
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The 31-year-old was initially sin-binned for
the tackle on South Africa’s Jesse Kriel in the first half of the match, which
the All Blacks lost in Paris on 28 October, but was red-carded after the action
was reviewed.
“The player accepted that he had
committed an act of foul play but challenged the Foul Play Review Official’s
decision that the act warranted a red card,” World Rugby said in a
statement.
An independent Disciplinary Committee of World
Rugby found “the degree of danger was high as there was direct and
forceful contact with the player’s shoulder to the head of the ball
carrier”.
World Rugby’s mandatory minimum mid-range
entry point for foul play resulting in head contact is usually a six-match ban.
However, “taking all considerations into
account, including the player’s exemplary disciplinary record, his early
acknowledgement of foul play and his clear remorse, the independent Committee
determined mitigation of three matches was appropriate”, the statement
added.
The sanction was reduced to two matches
subject to Cane’s completion of a coaching intervention programme.
Flanker Cane will miss his first two matches
with Japanese club Suntory, which he joined last week for the 2024 season, but
could make his debut on 2 December against Urayasu D-Rocks.