Moody suspended for two matches

Sun, May 13, 2018, 9:36 AM
Beth Newman
by Beth Newman
The Waratahs were looking to cause an upset as they travelled to New Zealand after a demoralising loss last week. The Crusaders were looking to keep their winning record alive at home.

Crusaders prop Joe Moody will miss two matches for striking Kurtley Beale on Saturday night.

Moody hit Beale in the head with his elbow, before going onto score the Crusaders' first try of the night, that kick started a record Super Rugby comeback.

Though the incident went unnoticed and unpunished by the referees, it was picked up on the broadcast and across social media.

SANZAAR confirmed on Sunday morning that Moody had been cited for the hit, with the citing commissioner deciding it met the red card threshold.

The Foul Play Review Committee, consisting of Nigel Hampton, Stefan Terblanche and John Langford, deemed the offence had an entry point of four weeks' suspension, but Moody's punishment was reduced to two weeks, because of the All Black's clean record, 'excellent character' and early guilty plea. 

 

Moody in hot water? 🤔 #SuperRugby #CRUvWAR

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Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson said on Saturday night that he expected the strike to be looked at by SANZAAR.

“I thought the Joe Moody incident with the elbow, the referee's missed (that),in my book it's an elbow to the head, I'm sure the powers (that) be will be looking at that,” he said.

Crusaders coach Scott Robertson had only praise for his loosehead prop post-match, though he wasn't asked about the incident specifically.

The ladder-leading Crusaders travel to Auckland next week to play the Blues.

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