Bakkies Botha has received a nine-week ban for head butting All Black scrum half Jimmy Cowan and will miss the rest of the Tri-Nations.
Botha was suspended by SANZAR judicial officer Dennis Wheelahan on Sunday after a hearing in Auckland. He is not eligible to play again until after September 4, the same date as South Africa’s final Tri-Nations match against Australia.
Botha had been cited after the All Blacks beat South Africa 32-12 in the opening match of the Tri-Nations at Eden Park on Saturday.
Irish referee Alan Lewis missed the incident which happened in a tackle after Cowan had tugged at Botha’s jersey as both were chasing a loose ball.
Television replays showed Botha appearing to pause after completing a tackle on Cowan before launching himself at the back of the scrumhalf’s head.
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After the departure of JP Pietersen and Andries Bekker from the Springbok camp due to injury, came the news that Bakkies Botha, Danie Rossouw and Bryan Habana are also battling injuries.
The trio of Bulls stars are busy working with doctor Craig Roberts on their rehabilitation, with Botha carrying a knee injury, Habana having a groin niggle and Rossouw working on his conditioning following a mild hamstring strain he suffered before coming to Australia.
But with coach Peter de Villiers needing to find replacements for Pietersen and Bekker in the match-day 22 for Saturday’s test in Brisbane, there is some trepidation in the camp.
“The Bakkies injury is more of a worry than anything else, especially since Danie is fit but hasn’t played for a while. We haven’t used him a lot and we’ll have to see whether he can be an 80-minute player,” De Villiers said on Monday.
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Bakkies Botha appeared before SANZAR judicial officer Dennis Wheelahan in Sydney on Monday and received a three week ban for foul play.
Botha was cited following his team’s 20-6 win over the Waratahs at the weekend, and was charged with having struck the Waratahs captain and flank Phil Waugh with his forearm.
The judicial officer categorised the offence as ‘reasonably serious’ and after taking into account all aggravating and mitigating factors Botha, was suspended for three weeks.
This precludes the player from participating in all forms of the game up to and including the May 2.
As a result Botha will miss the encounters with the Brumbies (in Canberra this coming Saturday), Chiefs (in Pretoria on April 25) and the Western Force (Pretoria, May 2).
He will be available against to play against the Cheetahs in Pretoria on May 9 and the Sharks in Durban a week later.
Source: rugby365.com
Pic: sport24.com
