All Black banned for 'dangerous tackle'

New Zealand and Wellington loose forward Jerry Collins has been banned for two weeks by a New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) judicial committee, following a dangerous tackle made on Southland's Paul Miller in the NPC Round Nine match at Invercargill last Saturday.

The ban rules Collins out of this weekend's NPC semi-final, where the Wellington Lions host Waikato on Friday, and a possible Final the following week.

However, Collins will be available to tour with the All Blacks when they play Italy, Wales and France next month.

Collins was ordered from the field by the referee, on the report of a touch judge, towards the end of the first-half of last Saturday's NPC match for a dangerous tackle on Miller.

At the hearing on Wednesday Collins maintained that his contact with the Southland player was not dangerous and did not warrant him being ordered off for it.

A number of submissions were made to the committee in support of this contention, but having viewed the incident on video tape the committee was quite satisfied that Collins was guilty of a dangerous tackle and in breach of the laws of the game.

In the committee's view, the tackle was effected at an unacceptably high level and carried an unacceptable risk of injury to the tackled player. As it transpired, Miller suffered no injury as a result of the tackle, but the committee felt his actions still warranted disciplinary steps.

The committee was told that Collins "had made considerable endeavours to improve his tackling technique in order to eliminate tackles of this kind from his game".

The committee concluded the tackle was effected without any malicious intent, but that it dangerously high and exposed Miller to risk of injury.

The committee has made it very clear in the past that if players chose to tackle high they carry a responsibility to ensure they do not make contact with the tackled player above shoulder level. Such tackling is contrary to the laws of the game.

The committee also noted that this was not the first occasion Collins had appeared before the judiciary for dangerous tackling.