RUGBY NEWS ROUND-UPPENDING ANY appeals, the Leinster-bound duo of South African prop CJ van der Linde and Australian flanker Rocky Elsom have been suspended for four weeks and one week respectively. In the short-term, this rules them out of Saturday's Tri-Nations rematch in Johannesburg, but Van der Linde would also be sidelined from Leinster's first three games of the Magners League.
Having delayed their findings for 24 hours, a Sanzar disciplinary committee yesterday suspended Van der Linde until Monday, September 22nd, after he was found guilty of dangerous play at a ruck during South Africa's Tri-Nations match against Australia in Durban on Saturday. He had been cited by citing commissioner Steve Hinds of New Zealand for striking Wallaby halfback Sam Cordingley with his head in the eighth minute of the match.
Elsom was suspended for one week for interfering with a player in a lineout, after being cited for tackling South African lock Victor Matfield in the air in the second half of the match.
As things stand, Van der Linde would miss Leinster's games away to Cardiff and at home to Edinburgh and the Ospreys. He would be eligible to return for the game at home to Munster on Sunday, September 28th, and the visit to Connacht a week later, before the opening Heineken European Cup games away to Edinburgh and at home to Wasps.
Had his offence been deemed deliberate, it would have been considered as "top-end", thereby leading to a suspension of at least eight weeks.
Even so, like under-fire Springboks coach Peter de Villiers, Leinster coach Michael Cheika was disappointed with the verdict.
"It won't really affect Rocky. He would have had to play another Tri-Nations match on the 13th regardless. It'll affect CJ. He'll still arrive, but it will affect his play date, although I'd say there will be an appeal. It seems a bit harsh.
"Obviously we'd be fairly keen for that to happen, even if it took a week or two off. He himself is so keen to get over."
Elsom is not due to arrive until September 15th, two days after the Tri-Nations decider against the All Blacks in Brisbane, and Van der Linde probably wouldn't have been available for the first game away to Cardiff anyway.
But he had been pencilled in for a debut at home to Edinburgh.
While Cheika acknowledges that it could have been worse, his concern has been magnified by an injury to Leinster's other recognised tighthead, Stanley Wright (Leinster's only ever-present last season and arguably their player of the season), in the opening minutes of their 19-15 win away to Treviso last Saturday.
With Cian Healy and Ronnie McCormack looseheads, Leinster's only other recognised tighthead is Stephen Knoop.
The Sanzar disciplinary officer, Nick Davidson QC of New Zealand, accepted Van der Linde's guilty plea to contravening Law 10.4(i) for dangerous play at a ruck. Van der Linde was cleared of contravening Law 10.4(a) relating to deliberately striking an opponent with the head.
In his findings, Davidson said the offence was cited as a deliberate striking with the head to the head. After hearing evidence and reviewing video coverage, he decided the offence was on the cusp of a striking but, applying the standard of proof, was assessable as dangerous play in a ruck under Law 10.4(i). Davidson found this was an attempt to clear out with no legitimacy, Van der Linde driving forward unbound, off his feet, with his head as a leading edge.
Van der Linde denied targeting the head but acknowledged it was an illegal clear-out, carrying a risk to Cordingley, who, fortunately, was not injured. As a deliberate strike this would have warranted a top-end entry of eight-plus weeks.
Without injury, and in the context of an illegal attempt to clear out, a mid-range entry of four weeks applied.
While the committee acknowledged that Van der Linde has an excellent disciplinary record on which to draw in mitigation, they stressed the IRB's recent concerns about clearing out at rucks.
