Stormers centre cited for tackle that sparked hot debate

Stormers centre Ruhan Nel has been cited for his tackle on Connacht flyhalf Conor Fitzgerald during last Saturday's United Rugby Championship encounter in Galway.

Nel received a yellow card for the tackle, with Scottish referee Ben Blain determining that the hit was dangerous as it made head contact.

The referee did find mitigation due to Fitzgerald's "drop in height" and therefore opted against dishing out a red card.

However, citing commissioner Ed Kenny disagrees with Blain, stating in his report that there was "no sudden/significant drop in height" from Fitzgerald.

Kenny's assessment reads: "After [Fitzgerald] has passed the ball, [Nel] executes an upright and dominant tackle. [Nel] turns his head significantly to his left which makes his right shoulder prominent and he leads into the contact with his right shoulder. The right shoulder makes initial contact to the upper chest and left shoulder of [Fitzgerald] before making contact to the jaw area.

"I believe that this was an act of foul play which was the fault of [Nel] and avoidable. [Fitzgerald] is in an upright position at the time of the tackle from [Nel]. The contact from the right shoulder of [Nel] to the jaw area of [Fitzgerald] is with sufficient force to lead to a high degree of danger. There is head contact, an act of foul play from [Nel] and a high degree of danger.

"There is no change in direction from [Fitzgerald] and no sudden/significant drop in height.

"Following the game, [Fitzgerald] stated he felt contact around his shoulders and low jaw. [Fitzgerald] left the field for a HIA. He passed the HIA but he did not return to play a further part in the game. I believe the actions of [Nel] meet the red card threshold and I therefore cite [Nel] under Law 9.13 for