Stormers winger Seabelo Senatla has been suspended following a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday after he was red carded for a dangerous challenge on Sharks fullback Aphelele Fassi in the PRO14 Rainbow Cup this past weekend.
Two of South Africa's fastest men collided in what was the first of two red cards on the day.
The collision was unfortunate and certainly not malicious, as Senatla appeared to misjudge the length of the kick and instead of competing for the ball, he ran straight into Fassi’s legs, flipping him for a full rotation that thankfully didn’t end in injury.
The Sevens star was shown a straight red card by referee Jaco Peyper and has since been suspended for four weeks after transgressing Law 9.17: “A player must not tackle, charge, pull, push or grasp an opponent whose feet are off the ground.”
In the hearing conducted by Judicial Officer Adv Tokkie van Zyl (SC), Senatla admitted that the red card was justified, and the abbreviated process was followed.
The transgression was treated as a mid-range offence and the player is suspended up to and including Friday, 4 June, which equates to four matches.
Senatla's team-mate Willie Engelbrecht (No 8) is free to play after also receiving a red card in the same match.
Engelbrecht was red carded in the 47th minute after receiving his second yellow card (the first was in the 14th minute), both incidents for dangerous tackling.
However, Judicial Officer Adv Rob Stelzner (SC) found that the second yellow card was unwarranted and has been expunged from Engelbrecht’s record, which means that the red card (consequent upon the second yellow card) is also to be erased from the player’s record.
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