Disciplinary update: Stormers star learns his fate

UPDATE: Ruhan Nel learnt his fate after he appeared before a disciplinary panel on Friday.

The Stormers centre was cited for his tackle on Connacht flyhalf Conor Fitzgerald in a United Rugby Championship match last weekend.

The BlitzBok star was handed a yellow card late in the second half of his team’s 17-19 defeat in Galway.

Scottish referee Ben Blain deemed Nel’s tackle on Fitzgerald was dangerous as it made head contact.

Blain did find mitigation due to the tackle “riding up” and thus opted against a red card.

And the disciplinary panel agreed with the match officials’ on-field assessment and the 30-year-old has received no suspension.

“Ruhan Nel of Stormers appeared in front of a Disciplinary Panel today [Friday, March 4] due to a Citing Complaint that occurred as a result of the United Rugby Championship fixture with Connacht Rugby on Saturday, February 26,” said a statement from the United Rugby Championship.

“The Player was cited under Law 9.13 – A player must not tackle an opponent early, late or dangerously. Dangerous tackling includes, but is not limited to, tackling or attempting to tackle an opponent above the line of the shoulders even if the tackle starts below the line of the shoulders

“The Disciplinary Panel met via videoconference and comprised of Declan Goodwin [Chair, Wales], John Kirk [Scotland], Andrea Caranci [Italy].

“The Panel reviewed the alleged act of foul play against his opponent, Conor Fitzgerald [No 10] for Connacht, and found that there was head contact as a result of foul play. Applying the World Rugby Head Contact Process, the Panel determined that there was a high degree of danger in the Player’s actions due to the speed and force of the collision. The Panel also considered, the mitigating factors, which were: the Player demonstrated a good level of control, both players dropped in height and that Nel turned his head away from the tackle in an attempt to avoid contact to the head on head contact

“The on-field decision of the Match Officials team that, following mitigation, the incident did not meet the threshold of a red card was deemed correct by the Panel.

“Therefore, the Citing Complaint was not upheld and the Player is free to continue playing.”