Simon Shaw will not be playing for the British and Irish Lions for the next two weeks. He was cited for foul play and banned for a fortnight in the teams third test against South Africa at Ellis Park. He put his knee into the back of South Africa's Fourie du Preeze, caught by ref Stuart Dickinson from Australia, and he gave Shaw a yellow card just thirty seven minutes into the game.
Shaw's ban starts in August, causing him to not participate in the openers of the most recent premiership season. This isn't new for the Lions, the thirty five year old Shaw is the second player to receive a ban from the officials on this South Africa tour, Nathan Hines, a forward from Scotland, received a ban for a week for performing a dangerous tackle in Cape Town in a game against the Emerging Springboks.
The Lions will have to do the next leg of this ten match South Africa tour without Shaw, who met with Alan Hudson, a Judicial Officer, on Sunday to determine the proper punishment. Hudson has not been lenient in the past, giving Schalk Burger and Bakkies Botha a ban of eight weeks and two weeks respectively. Burger was banned for contact with Luke Fitzgerald's eye area, while Botha was given the yellow for a charge that left Adam Jones with a dislocated shoulder. Both Fitzgerald and Jones are with the Lions.
South Africa wasn't happy about the ban on Botha, even through it resulted in Jones' dislocated shoulder. Both coaches and players wore white arm bands that had the word “justice” upon them so signify their disagreement with the official's decision, during the entire fortnight of Botha's suspension.
References:
Irish Lions,
Stuart Dickinson,
Nathan Hines,
Alan Hudson,
Schalk Burger,
Bakkies Botha,
Adam Jones
