rusaders captain Scott Barrett has been banned for four weeks as the Sanzaar judiciary came down hard on New Zealand players for indiscretions in the latest round of Super Rugby Pacific matches.
Hurricanes hooker Asafo Aumua and Highlanders lock Josh Dickson were both banned for three weeks as the crackdown on head contact continued.
Barrett pleaded guilty to a high tackle in his team’s 27-23 loss to the Blues in Christchurch on Friday night where he was red carded just after halftime for his hit on Blues prop Alex Hodgman.
With an initial entry point of six weeks the judiciary reduced his ban to four because of mitigating factors including Barrett’ acceptance of foul play, his expressed remorse and pleading guilty at the first available opportunity.
But Barrett wasn’t entitled to the full 50% reduction because of a prior similar offence.
Barrett’s suspension up to and including May 13 sees him miss games against the Rebels, Waratahs, Force and Brumbies.
Dickson and Aumua were both punished for incidents in the Highlanders v Hurricanes match in Dunedin on Saturday night.
Dickson was sent off in the 19th minute after connecting with Hurricanes prop Tevita Mafileo’s head with his left shoulder.
The judiciary agreed with the red card but Dickson’s clean record, remorse and acceptance of foul play saw his suspension reduced from six weeks to three.
The ban means Dickson will miss games against the Brumbies, Fijian Drua and the Reds.
Aumua pleaded guilty to reckless play when his shoulder connected with Gareth Evans head in a maul late in the match.
The judiciary found the contact with the head warranted a starting point of six weeks, but Aumua’s clean record and acceptance of guilt saw that cut to three weeks.
He will miss games against the Reds, Brumbies and Fijian Drua.
