Canadian Jebb Sinclair has been cleared for his punch on Jean Deysel on the weekend. Both he and Tyrone Holmes were red carded for seperate incidents, however Holmes has been suspended. Western Province ended the game with just 12 players.
In scenes that were reminiscent of the 1995 Rugby World Cup semi final between South Africa and France, Kingspark in Durban looked more like the aptly named sharktank than a rugby field. Conditions were awful with huge puddles all over the place, but the game went on.
Despite the high scoring nature of the match - the Sharks won 43-27 - it was tough and physical up front, with things boiling over in the second half as Sinclair and Deysel got into a tangle.
The Canadian RWC representive dropped Deysel with one well placed punch, but received his marching orders for it. Deysel was viewed to have provoked Sinclair, so he was sin-binned.
Not too long after that Tyrone Holmes also lost his cool, swinging a punch at veteran loosie Jaques Botes, who made sure the touch judge saw what happened. Holmes also received a red card.
Both players attended a disciplinary hearing earlier this week, where Sinclair was let off due to mitigating circumstances (the 'severe provocation'), and Holmes received a one match ban for his punch. He was also seen to have been provoked, but not in the same attacking way.
"Sinclair was severely provoked in that he was struck five times by his opponent with an open hand before he retaliated," explained judicial officer Peter Ingwersen. "Holmes was severely provoked but he was never subjected to a physical attack, as in the case of Sinclair," he added.
Both were considered low-end offences, and the mitigating factors are what resulted in two weeks being dropped to zero, and to one week, respectively.
A yellow card for a late charge resulted in Western Province ending the game with just 12 players.