Lavanini cited for knee charge
Lavanini is charged with having contravened Law 10.4 (a): Punching or striking.
This came after he charged, knee first, into Cheetahs centre William Small-Smith – after Small-Smith had scored a try – in the 25th minute of the match between the Cheetahs and Jaguares in Bloemfontein on Friday, February 26.
Super Rugby's newcomers, the Jaguares of Argentina, started their campaign with a nailbiting 34-33 win over a willing Cheetahs team.
The referee for the match, Stuart Berry, reviewed the incident with the Television Match Official and awarded a penalty at the restart after the try – which was scored prior to the incident.
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 citing is to be considered in the first instance by SANZAAR judicial officer Nigel Hampton.
All SANZAAR disciplinary matters are in the first instance referred to a judicial officer hearing to provide the option of expediting the judicial process.
For a matter to be dispensed with at this hearing, the person appearing must plead guilty and accept the penalty offered by the judicial officer.
