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Jesse Kriel with Springboks fans. James Crombie/INPHO

Springboks centre Kriel free to face Ireland as he won't be cited

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend had felt the incident was worth reviewing.

SPRINGBOKS CENTRE JESSE Kriel won’t be cited for a possible high tackle early in his side’s Pool B win over Scotland in Marseille last night.

The South African centre tackled Scotland number eight Jack Dempsey early in the game and there appeared to be head contact involved, but the incident was not flagged with referee Angus Gardner by TMO Ben Whitehouse for an official review.

Speaking after the game, Scotland boss Gregor Townsend shared his surprise that there hadn’t been a formal review of the incident.

There had been some speculation that Kriel could be cited for his tackle, but that won’t be the case.

It’s understood that Whitehouse did examine the incident during the game but didn’t find clear and obvious illegal head contact. And while the official 36-hour citing window remains open until tomorrow morning, it appears that the citing commissioner hasn’t seen illegal head contact either. Both officials benefit from access to around 15 different camera angles.

Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus said today that it hadn’t been a direct head contact.

“We are really comfortable. There hasn’t been a citing, I’m pretty sure there won’t be a citing,” said Erasmus.

“If it isn’t direct head contact, and it wasn’t, it was tackled on the ball and then he moved up after tackling on the ball. I’ve seen a few stills where people just [show] after direct contact to the ball.

“If you took it a millisecond or a second or two back, you’ll see that he clearly tackled on the ball. So we’re very happy with how it was refereed.

“I think Finn Russell’s call [when he was penalised for a no-arms challenge on Kurt-Lee Arendse] was much closer. Unfortunately, he got injured then, I think that deflected a little bit from the action that he did, but we were happy with the decision that was made.

“Obviously, there’s some time to do citings still but I’ll be very surprised for the indirect contact, with first contact on the ball, that there will be anything from that.”

It means that Kriel should be available for the Springboks against Ireland in their huge Pool B clash in Paris on 23 September.

The South Africans face Romania in their second pool game next weekend but it’s expected that Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber will rotate for that fixture.

Kriel could still play against the Romanians, of course, but if he comes through unscathed, he looks certain to start at outside centre against Ireland.

- This article was updated at 6.39pm to correct the duration of the citing window from 24 hours to 36 hours.

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    Mute T Meister
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    Apr 25th 2019, 9:39 AM

    Roy always says it as he sees it- no filter but unadulterated Truth.
    Gotta love it

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    Mute Adrian Newman
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    Apr 25th 2019, 8:22 AM

    Rashford: bare minimum to work hard. How about scoring a goal? 8 hours and 47 mins without a goal from open play and yet this guy keeps starting!!! So so overrated

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    Mute Ardmore02
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    Apr 25th 2019, 9:09 AM

    @Adrian Newman: and who do you suggest starts ahead of him? Sanchez, Lukaku? At the moment he’s by far the first name on the team sheet.

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    Mute Keith Walsh
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    Apr 25th 2019, 9:53 AM

    @Adrian Newman: I enjoyed watching UTD’s resurgence under ole these past few months, a bit like I did the tiger comeback, and as a gooner and someone who thinks Tiger is a proper toerag this just means that I enjoy seeing sport played with the right amount of passion/skill ratio..
    But let’s remember, money divides people from their moral standings, their senses and their motives.. players have too much power now with the agent era, Ferguson saw the writing on the wall and so the story went… I’d love to see the Pogba’s and the Sanchez’s of football get sacked for not performing to the standards they’ve sold themselves at..

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    Mute Mikezip007
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    Apr 25th 2019, 8:23 AM

    If rashford was able to take half the clear goal scoring opportunities he had this season united would be in a much stronger position regarding champions league next season….. His composure is poor at best

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    Mute GARFARKLE
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    Apr 25th 2019, 9:10 AM

    Rashford wants to sign a new contract for €200,000 per week. A joke.

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    Mute james mccarthy
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    Apr 25th 2019, 11:53 AM

    Wouldn’t you love to have Roy involved in the United set that would be one way to clear out some of the players

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    Mute Nollaig Elliot
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    Apr 25th 2019, 2:03 PM

    @james mccarthy:

    Director of football. He’d be the right man for the shake up. Fred wouldn’t have lasted candlelight. He’s spot on in what he said too. I’ll be the first lad to admit that I’m one of United’s biggest critics on here, regardless of being a United supporter. Last night was by a country mile, the worst performance I’ve seen from them in as long as I can remember. Completely gutless. De Gea has to go in the summer too. I wouldn’t begrudge him it either, he’d have 4 CL medals now if he got his move to Madrid the last time.

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    Mute Fran Harding
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    Apr 25th 2019, 8:37 AM

    SLIPPY G

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