All Blacks lock Scott Barrett has been cleared to play ahead of the Rugby World Cup's opener in France next week, following a disciplinary hearing this morning.
Barrett received a red card in the All Blacks warm-up match against South Africa over the weekend, which New Zealand lost 7-35. The red card came after two yellows.
The first came after taking out Boks halfback Faf de Klerk at a ruck. Barrett was sent off after attempting to clean out a prone Malcolm Marx and succeeded only by connecting with Marx’s head with his shoulder.
Following a hearing by an independent Disciplinary Committee, Barrett was cleared to play.
The committee said that because he had already seen two yellow cards, the sending-off was "sufficient" and did not warrant the ban.
"The independent Judicial Committee found that sending off was a sufficient sanction in this case because the player was sent off for two yellow cards (referred to as temporary suspensions in the appendix), and the first of those yellow cards was for a technical offence following a team warning," a World Rugby spokesperson said in a statement.
The decision means Barrett will likely start against France in the tournament on 9 September.
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