Bulls’ Steyn banned for three weeks for dangerous tackle

Bulls flyhalf Morné Steyn will miss his team’s next three fixtures after being handed a three-week sanction following a red card in the United Rugby Championship match against the Sharks at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, February 12.

The 37-year-old pivot received the red card in the 11^th minute of the South African derby for a dangerous tackle on Sharks centre and captain Lukhanyo Am.

The decision to sanction Steyn will mean that the experienced No 10 will not be part of the Bulls team that will travel to Italy where they will face Zebre Parma on Friday.

A Disciplinary Committee met on Thursday, February 17, to consider the incident which was considered a contravention of Law 9.13 which states: “A player must not tackle an opponent early, late or dangerously. Dangerous tackling includes, but is not limited to, tackling or attempting to tackle an opponent above the line of the shoulders even if the tackle starts below the line of the shoulders.”

According to a statement released by the United Rugby Championship, the Disciplinary Panel of Jennifer Donovan (Chair, Ireland), Rose Alice Murphy (Ireland) and Tony Wheat (Ireland) considered all the evidence available and concluded that the referee’s decision to issue the red card was correct and so upheld the red card.

The panel carefully considered the evidence and found that there was a high degree of danger, that the action was at speed with contact made to the neck and jaw area, with insufficient mitigation to reduce the level of sanction.

The Panel determined that the entry point be mid-range which carried a suspension of six (6) weeks. [Steyn] did accept that he had committed an act of foul play but did not accept that it warranted a red card. 

The Panel considered the [Steyn’s] previous good record and admittance to a late and high tackle, and determined that it would reduce the sanction by three (3) weeks.

Steyn will be available to play again from Sunday, 13 March. He will miss the URC match against Zebre Parma, the Currie Cup match against Griquas (Saturday, March 5, 2022) and the URC match against Munster (Saturday, March 12, 2022).