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Wallaby Taniela Tupou's Super Rugby playoffs in doubt after citing
By Ned Lester
Rebels prop Taniela Tupou faces an anxious wait over the coming days after the Wallaby was cited for a high cleanout in the 65th minute of his team’s loss against the Brumbies in round 14.
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The 28-year-old faced no disciplinary action during the contest, despite appearing to injure Brumbies lock Darcy Swain on the play, but has been cited and faces a potential ban.
The play was deemed to meet the red-card threshold by a judiciary, which cited law 9.20 for Tupou’s indiscretion.
“Taniela Tupou of the Rebels has been cited for alleged foul play during a Super Rugby Pacific match at the weekend,” the citing statement read.
“Tupou is alleged to have contravened Law 9.20: Dangerous play in a ruck or maul, during the match between the Brumbies and Rebels at GIO Stadium in Canberra on 24 May 2024.
“Upon further review of the match footage, the Citing Commissioner deemed in his opinion the incident had met the Red Card threshold for foul play.”
The Rebels’ participation in the Super Rugby Pacific playoffs is guaranteed as they sit seven competition points clear of the ninth-placed Western force on the table.
With one week of the round-robin remaining before the quarter-finals, a low-range suspension would see Tupou miss round 15, the quarter-finals and a potential semi-final contest but return for a potential final appearance.
Otherwise, a longer suspension would end the Wallaby’s Super Rugby season entirely.
Two of Tupou’s New Zealand counterparts at the Blues and Hurricanes also face judicial decisions this week ahead of their respective postseason campaigns, with Wellington hooker Raymond Tuputupu and Auckland flanker Adrian Choat set to learn their fate in the coming days.
Should be cited (along with quite a few pi players) for taking to the rugby field chewing gum. If he gets knocked out cold he could choke on that.
I don’t think it counts as a mouth guard, probably just trying to look ‘staunch’, which seems important to some people.
He saw Darcy Swain trying to cheat by using his hand in a ruck and banged him. Fair enough. The Brumbies are dragging Australian rugby down with their incessant cheating.