The No.9 was ruled out of the contest as a result.<\/p>\n
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Incredibly, the incident seemingly went unnoticed by the referee and no penalty was given, allowing the Argentine player to remain on the field.<\/p>\n
All told, Argentina lost 22-21 to South Africa in a thrilling contest.\ufeff<\/a><\/p>\n Now, SANZAAR has stepped in and confirmed it has launched an investigation for what it says was a red card offence.<\/p>\n "Juan Cruz Mallia of Argentina has been cited for alleged foul play during a Rugby Championship match at the weekend," read a statement.<\/p>\n "Cruz Mallia is alleged to have contravened Law 9.11: Players must not do anything that is reckless or dangerous to others, during the match between South Africa and Argentina at Emirates Airlines Park in Johannesburg on 29 July 2023.<\/p>\n "Upon further review of the match footage, the citing commissioner deemed in his opinion the incident had met the red card threshold for foul play.<\/p>\n "The case is to be considered in the first instance by the SANZAAR Foul Play Review Committee which will take place on Tuesday 1 August via video-conference at 5am(ARG), 10am(SA), 6pm(AUS), 8pm(NZ).<\/p>\n "All SANZAAR disciplinary matters are in the first instance referred to the Foul Play Review Committee to provide the option of expediting the judicial process.<\/p>\n "For a matter to be dispensed with at this hearing, the person appearing must plead guilty and accept the penalty offered by the Foul Play Review Committee."<\/p>\n Cruz Mallia could face a match ban. With only two warm-up games before the Rugby World Cup, and given the severity of the incident, he could conceivably miss their opening contest.<\/p>\n Argentina has two warm-up matches scheduled before the Rugby World Cup. The first of those is against the Springboks on August 5 in Buenos Aires.<\/p>\n Argentina will then face Spain for the first time since 1992 in Madrid.\u00a0<\/p>\n England will be Argentina's first opponent in the opening Pool D match on September 9 at the Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"Faf](\"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/pickerimage-316.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Lucas](\"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/pickerimage-317.jpg\")
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