Wallabies lock Darcy Swain will face the judiciary tomorrow night for his dangerous dive on Quinn Tupaea which will leave the All Blacks midfielder sidelined for at least three months with a serious knee injury.
The SANZAAR judiciary announced this morning Swain will attend a hearing tomorrow at 7pm NZT for the cleanout in the 35th minute of the All Blacks' controversial 39-37 win in Melbourne last Thursday.
"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 judiciary said in a statement.
"The Judicial Committee for the Hearing will be Andre Oosthuizen SC (Chair), De Wet Barry and José Luis Rolandi which will be held by video conference."
At the time referee Mathieu Raynal, who would later make headlines himself for his own controversial moment, initially missed the incident but after it was brought to his attention by TMO Ben Whitehouse he handed Swain a yellow card.
"That is your responsibility to not put yourself in a reckless position which can seriously injure the player," Raynal told Swain before issuing the card.
"You cannot target the lower legs, it's dangerous so it's a yellow card."
All Blacks coach Ian Foster hasn't spoken much on the matter, saying he'd let the judiciary settle it, but Tupaea's teammates in Beauden Barrett and Aaron Smith both said the team had their own views on the incident.
"I feel for Quinn. He basically didn’t see it coming and was a sitting duck. It was basically a free shot," Barrett said yesterday.
"I feel for him because he’s going to be out of the game for a long period of time. I’m not too sure what is happening with their camp and Darcy Swain. Of course I feel for him.
"We don’t like to see these sorts of injuries."
The injury will mean the All Blacks will have to reshuffle their backline for Saturday's Rugby Championship finale against the Wallabies at Eden Park with starting midfielder David Havili also out of the match due to a head injury in the same Test.
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