New Zealand's Quinn Tupaea is set for an extended time on the sidelines after a horror tackle by Australian lock Darcy Swain. The All Blacks team doctor confirmed that the Waikato centre has ruptured his medial cruciate ligament, and partial anterior cruciate ligament.
It appears certain that Tupaea will miss the rest of this season and likely the majority of next year's 2023 Super Rugby Campaign.
Horror tackle
The incident occurred in the enthralling match between New Zealand and Australia yesterday in the United Rugby Championship. With Tupaea wanting to compete for the ball during a breakdown, Swain came in from the side, and appeared to target Tupaea's left leg.
Referee Mathieu Raynal and the TMO Ben Whitehouse discussed the incident and only gave a yellow card for the clearout. However, Swain did not escape being condemned online for his actions.
Tupaea’s injury update - ruptured medial cruciate ligament (MCL) AND partial anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in his left knee - misses rest of the season. 🤬😡🤬😡 - #AUSvNZL https://t.co/GM70EMKvBW
— Brett Igoe (@brettruganalyst) September 16, 2022
Lengthy Ban
The 25-year-old Australian could be facing a lengthy ban for his recklessness. The citing commissioner has claimed that his actions meet the red card threshold. His case will be heard this Monday the 19th of September.
SANZAAR, the body which oversees the Rugby Championship in the Southern Hemisphere released the following statement.
Darcy Swain of the Brumbies has been cited for alleged foul play during the Rugby Championship match on Thursday 15th September 2022.
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.
No stranger to bans
This is not the first time this year that Swain is facing a considerable time on the sidelines. He was earlier banned for the remaining two games of Australia's Test series against England this July after headbutting Johnny Hill.
Next week showdown
New Zealand ended up winning the game on a score line of 39 - 37 which was not without further controversy.
Australia and New Zealand will face each other again in the United Rugby Championship next weekend. Both sides will be hoping that this meeting won't be as controversial as their last match.
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