Higginbotham gets off scot-free
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A SANZAR judicial hearing has found Scott Higginbotham of the Rebels not guilty of stamping on Richie Mccaw after he was cited against the Crusaders at the weekend.
No further sanction has been imposed on the player.
The incident occurred in the 50th minute during the match between the Crusaders and Rebels at AMI Stadium in Christchurch last Friday.
The SANZAR Judicial Hearing was heard by Adam Casselden via video conference. David Croft was the former professional player who attended as a Judicial Technical Adviser.
In his finding, Casselden ruled the following: "After hearing from the player and Tim North and watching the video footage a number of times, I could not be satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the player intentionally or deliberately stamped his opponent.
"I accepted the evidence of Scott Higginbotham that he was attempting to jump over his opponent who was rolling towards him when he miscalculated his jump and made accidental contact with the opponent's head.
"This evidence was consistent with the evidence of Richie McCaw who stated that Higginbotham immediately apologised to him after the incident saying it was accidental.
"McCaw accepted Higginbotham's apology as genuine."
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