Wessels stood down from return clash

South Africa's Cobus Wessels, an International Rugby Board panel assistant referee, has been stood down as an assistant referee for this Saturday's Tri-Nations match between New Zealand and Australia in Christchurch.

Wessels has been replaced by Keith Brown of New Zealand as assistant referee and will instead be the Television Match Official for the match in the place of Ben Skeen of New Zealand.

The IRB says that the change followed "a routine review of match official performance in last weekend's Tri-Nations match in Melbourne".

In that match Wessels was the assistant referee who flagged Drew Mitchell for his tackle on Richie McCaw which earned the Australian wing his first yellow card.

Mitchell, of course, was also sin-binned in the second half by SA referee Craig Joubert (when he prevented a quick All Blacks throw-in at a line-out), which meant an automatic red card for the Waratahs speedster.

However, Mitchell was since cleared for his indisrections and is available for this weekend's return clash in Christchurch as the home side, the All Blacks, look to record yet another win over the Wallabies.

The IRB also says: "The appointment of a replacement Assistant Referee from the Host Union is owing to the logistical and preparation pressures of selecting a neutral official for Saturday's match and will not be a precedent for future appointments."

The change has also been approved by SANZAR.