Springbok centre Andre Esterhuizen has been banned for four matches, following his dangerous tackle, that included head on head contact, during last Saturdays one-off Test against Portugal in Bloemfontein.
Esterhuizen was initially yellow carded for the second minute tackle on Jose Lima, which forced the Portuguese player off the field with concussion, but following a review by the touchline officials, the card was upgraded to a red .
Despite playing the majority of the match with 14 men (and at times 13 men following yellow cards being dished out to Kurt-Lee Arendse and Quan Horn) the Boks won the game 64-21 .
World Rugby announced late on Tuesday that the Bok centre Esterhuizen had been suspended for three matches for the tackle on Lima, subject to him completing the World Rugby Coaching Intervention Programme.
The hearing was undertaken by an Independent Disciplinary Committee chaired by Matthew Weaver KC (England) and joined by former player Jamie Corsi (Wales) and former international referee Valeriu Toma (Romania).
