Darcy Swain has been suspended for six weeks by a Sanzaar judiciary, after the rising Wallabies lock was found guilty of a “reckless” breakdown effort in Bledisloe I.
His guilty verdict will see Swain miss six weeks, including three Tests.
As well as the late drama surrounding Mathieu Raynal’s decision to award the All Blacks a free kick in the final minute, Swain’s shot on Quinn Tupaea was the second big talking point coming out of the game.
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Swain was shown a yellow card but many, including All Blacks coach Ian Foster, believed the 25-year-old should have copped a bigger punishment.
Foster said the All Blacks had a “big issue” with the incident and said the “rules were the rules”, believing Tupaea would miss an estimated nine months of rugby after being injured.
A Sanzaar judiciary hearing found that Swain had contravened Law 9.11 – “players must not do anything that is reckless or dangerous to others”.
Judiciary Committee Chair, Andre Oosthuizen SC, deemed the incident worthy of a red card and believed a mid-level entry point was merited.
The hearing, however, did not find that Swain’s actions were deliberate.
“Through the actions by the player such as position, control, and player movements they found the incident was not intentional, however, it was highly reckless,” Oosthuizen said.
On Wednesday, Swain was selected in a 34-man Australia A squad for three unofficial Tests against a Japan XV.
He will be banned up to and including November 6, meaning he will only miss the Tests against the All Blacks, Scotland and France.
As such, Swain will likely play some part on the Spring Tour, with Tests against Italy, Ireland and Wales to follow.
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The Wallabies are expected to tweak their forward pack for Bledisloe II, with Cadeyrn Neville in-line for a recall at Eden Park.
He will replace Matt Philip, who is expected to be ruled out due to injury.
A back-row reshuffle is expected too, with Harry Wilson in the frame to replace the injured Rob Leota.
