Wallabies bad boy Darcy Swain has been officially cited for his attack on All Blacks reserve Quinn Tupaea that has left the midfielder facing a long recovery stint on the sidelines with a knee injury.
Late in the first half of the Bledisloe Cup opener at Melbourne, the Australian loose forward was yellow-carded by referee Mathieu Raynal for targeting Tupaea's legs in a ruck cleanout, leaving his victim writhing in agony on the ground after the play had ended.
Reviews showed Swain wrapping his arm around Tupaea and deliberately collapsing his left knee, inflicting damage that's believed to include torn ligaments involving months of rehab, probably ending his 2022 All Blacks campaign.
Many believe Swain's actions deserved a red card, while Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has attempted to downplay the incident.
"I'm not convinced by Darcy Swain's, it was certainly nothing intentional," he insisted. "Ironically, he got neckrolled prior to him cleaning out, but that wasn't picked up."
All Blacks coach Ian Foster has reacted angrily to Rennie's comments.
"We've got a bit issue with it," he said. "We've got a player who's putting [Tupaea] out for nine months and you're not allowed to target legs on the side at a cleanout past the ball, so the rules are pretty clear."
Ultimately, the SANZAAR judiciary will decide the severity of his actions, when they consider the citing on Monday.
"Swain is alleged to have contravened Law 9.11 - Players must not do anything that is reckless and dangerous to others - during the match between Australia and New Zealand at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne," says the citation notice.
"The referee for the match, Mathieu Raynal, awarded Swain a yellow card for the incident, which occurred in the 35th minute. 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."
Swain has a history of onfield brutality, after he was red-carded and suspended two weeks for headbutting England counterpart Jonny Hill in July.
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