Tuitupou Cited After Munster Defeat

Munster centre Sam Tuitupou has been cited for committing ‘an alleged dangerous tackle’ during the province’s Heineken Cup Pool 3 defeat to London Irish in Reading last Saturday.

Sam Tuitupou scored a late try at the Madejski Stadium, earning Munster a losing bonus point as they went down 23-17 to London Irish.

But the former All Black has been cited for the first half tackle which resulted in him being sin-binned.

He was seen upending London Irish scrum half Paul Hodgson onto the turf. Referee Christophe Berdos reached for his yellow card and after the ruling of citing commissioner Ray Wilton (Wales), Tuitupou is now facing further sanction.

He was cited under Law 10.4 (j) – ‘Lifting a player from the ground and dropping or driving a player into the ground.’

Tuitupou will appear before an independent disciplinary committee in Dublin on Wednesday, just three days before Munster’s crucial clash with Toulon.

Simon Thomas from Wales has been appointed as the independent judicial officer for the hearing.

The IRB recommended sanctions are as follows: low end, 3 weeks; mid range, 6 weeks; top end, 10+ weeks; maximum, 52 weeks.

With Lifeimi Mafi currently serving a seven-week ban and Keith Earls just back from a lengthy injury absence, any suspension for Tuitupou would leave Munster in the midst of a midfield crisis.

Tickets for Saturday’s Munster v Toulon tussle at Thomond Park are completely sold out.