Hurricanes centre Jordie Barrett has been handed a three-week suspension for a dangerous hit on Reds' Jordie Petaia that eventually saw the wing taken from the field during last weekend's Super Round.
Attempting to tackle a rampaging Petaia midfield, Barrett remained in an upright position and made direct shoulder contact to Petaia's head resulting in the wing falling to the floor and appearing dazed after the hit.
Initially handed a yellow card, the TMO quickly upgraded to red with the Foul Play Review Committee upholding the decision.
In a statement the committee said: "the FPRC assessed the player's actions as having directly contacted the head, at high speed, with high force and while the player's body position was always upright in the collision.
"The FPRC considered the act of foul play was always illegal. In those circumstances, no mitigation was applied."
Barrett is sent to the bin in his 100th! 😱
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Barrett was relieved after the match, after his team managed to close out the game in extra-time after scores were locked at 33-all.
"It's a team game and the boys dug deep and got a win so I'm absolutely stoked about that," he said after the game.
But his ban is still a massive blow for the Hurricanes with devastating centre sidelined for the side's important clashes against the Blues, the Crusaders in Christchurch and the Rebels. Barrett will be forced to wait until the end of March to add another cap to his 100th when the side travel to Dunedin to face the Highlanders.
Nigel Ah Wong earns himself a yellow for a dangerous tackle! 🟨
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Meanwhile, Moana Pasifika wing Nigel Ah Wong has been lucky to escape with just a warning after he was red carded and cited for a dangerous tackle on Fijian Drua's outside centre Iosefo Masi.
Ah Wong made direct contact with Masi's head with no clear attempt to wrap his arms and was immediately shown a yellow card which was elevated to a red.
According to the committee the act did not breach the red card threshold which will see the red card removed from the player's record and instead be replaced with a warning sanction for the action.
The red card almost cost Moana their first win of the year with Drua coming close to overturning a 17-point deficit in the final 10-minutes, before a turnover after the siren saw Moana maintain a three-point win.