Ma Nonu Gets Red Card in Round One

Ma'a Nonu will not play in Super Rugby next week for the Hurricanes, when they compete in Super Rugby Derby against the Crusaders. The center was suspended after receiving a roundone red card. With this kind of start to the new season, it is likely that the All Blacks midfielder is suffering from a bit of low morale as he received tow yellows when the Hurricanes played the Highlanders and lost 14-9. A judicial hearing found him guilty and banned him for one week. Nonu said he would accept the ban, saying that it could have been lengthier.

The second card that Ma Nonu received was from hitting another player with his shoulder when he tackled him. The video was reviewed by Nigel Hampton QC, a SANZAR judicial officer, who upheld the citing after reviewing the video and hearing testimony saying that Nonu did not use his arms at all in the tackle and indeed, his shoulder was what impacted Jimmy Cowan. Hampton did say that the tackle wasn’t all that serious, and he took Nonu’s cooperation into account, as well as a letter that the board received from Jimmy Cowan when making the suspension only a week.

Nonu was quoted as saying that he thought his trial was fair. He said that he only got a week and that was a great outcome because it could have been much worse. Nonu will miss the match at Wellington on Saturday against the Hurricanes. That would have been his 100^th Super Rugby match for his franchise, and as one of the players taking heat from Sonny Bill Williams for his place in the All Blacks, he wants to get back in the game as soon as possible.