Former All Blacks first-five Lima Sopoaga has taken aim at Wallabies lock Darcy Swain over the incident that sidelined Quinn Tupaea for nine months.
In the All Blacks' Bledisloe Cup opening victory against the Wallabies at Melbourne's Marvel Stadium, Swain was shown a yellow card, after an illegal cleanout that saw Tupaea forced from the field with a knee injury.
A ruptured medial collateral ligament and partially torn anterior cruciate ligament had Tupaea's initial prognosis for recovery at three months, before scans revealed the injury to be much more severe.
The midfielder will be out of action for nine months, needing surgery that has scratched him from the Chiefs' 2023 Super Rugby Pacific campaign. Tupaea, 23, faces a race against time to be fit for next year's Rugby World Cup in France.
Despite the severity of Tupaea's injury, Swain was handed a six-week punishment by SANZAAR's judiciary and will be free to play again as early as November.
Taking to Twitter, 18-test All Black Sopoaga hasn't held back in his assessment of the Swain verdict.
"Swain is an absolute coward for this," he wrote. "Was no need for such a cheap shot.
"Nine months for six weeks seems fair, joke of a suspension."
The Wallabies maintain Swain's actions were not deliberate and the 25-year-old was "devastated" by the injury inflicted on Tupaea.
Regardless, Swain's suspension ends on November 6, leaving him available for selection when the Wallabies face Italy, Ireland and Wales on their northern tour to end 2022.
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