The citing complaint against Ireland prop Andrew Porter for the high tackle which broke the cheekbone of All Blacks lock Brodie Retallick has been dismissed by a disciplinary committee.
Porter was shown a yellow card for a head-on-head clash with Retallick, who is expected to be sidelined for up to eight weeks, during Ireland’s series-clinching 32-22 victory in Wellington last Saturday.
A World Rugby judicial committee, which included former South African back Stefan Terblanche and ex-Scotland head coach Frank Hadden, found in a hearing late on Tuesday that the yellow card against Porter was sufficient punishment.
The panel “agreed with the match officials’ on-field decision that the player’s act of foul play … did not meet the red card threshold due to the absorbing nature of the tackle”, it said in a statement.
Retallick had to be helped off after Porter’s high tackle – a week after All Blacks prop Angus Ta’aavo was sent off for a similar offence in the second Test, also won 23-12 by Ireland.
That result was Ireland’s first victory over the All Blacks in New Zealand.
Ireland’s 2-1 win in the series lifted them above France to top spot in World Rugby’s men’s team rankings for the first time since the system was introduced 19 years ago. New Zealand are fourth.
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