New Zealand captain Richie McCaw could be in for an anxious few days after TV footage captured him striking South African player Francois Louw.
Louw is seen to have sustained a facial blow on twenty minutes of their semi-final defeat and will require a total of twenty stitches. If the collision is deemed to be deliberate, McCaw could miss out on New Zealand's first Rugby World Cup final in the Northern Hemisphere.
Richie McCaw could be in trouble after this apparent elbow today. #NZLvRSA #RWC2015 https://t.co/hmzXJ5M3Ms
— Vernons Sports (@BetVernons) October 24, 2015
Striking with the elbow comes under law 10.4a of dangerous play and misconduct and carries a suspension timeline of two weeks, meaning McCaw would have no chance of being eligible for the final. The incident may be passed on to the citing officer who will then have until 6am tomorrow morning to submit a complaint.
All Blacks Head Coach Steve Hensen is confident that no further action will be taken and McCaw will proceed to claim his 148th cap for New Zealand next weekend.
'No. There's nothing in it so there's nothing to talk about. Everyone's got a bit excited and we move on. He's a man that draws a lot of attention because he's a great player, maybe the greatest player in the history of the game, and if he's not in your team, then he's a pain in the rear end. So if you can't get him on the track, let's get him off the track sort of thing. It's a mark of respect really. He takes it in his stride.'
Elsewhere, the adjudged elbow strike prompted a lot of debate on social media. Not many comments seem to fear for McCaw while others are saying that it was his hip that collided with the South African flanker rather than his elbow.
Is there anything in that Richie McCaw bump? There's bigger elbows in a bag of killer pythons #RWC2015 #allblacks
— Nick McGrath (@nickmcgrath4) October 25, 2015
Richie McCaw: "I said it was going to be a huge step up in intensity and physicality, and it was. The win is pretty satisfying. I'm happy."
— Rugby World (@Rugbyworldmag) October 24, 2015
McCaw's hip, not elbow: https://t.co/x53pQuyzyk
— Gavin Cummiskey (@Cumoski) October 25, 2015
48 hours of English press obsessing over Richie McCaw's elbow begins now.
— Toby Manhire (@toby_etc) October 24, 2015
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