Sharks centre's clearance comes too late

DISCIPLINARY UPDATE: Sharks centre Marius Louw escaped a ban by a United Rugby Championship disciplinary panel.

However, his clearance came too late to be included in the team to face the Dragons in Durban on Friday.

Louw, who started at inside centre in the Sharks' 5-21 loss to Edinburgh last Saturday, was yellow-carded in the 13th-minute for 'tackling a player in the air'.

Louw was subsequently cited for the incident.

He was cited under Law 9.17 – "A player must not tackle, charge, pull, push or grasp an opponent whose feet are off the ground".

He appeared before a disciplinary panel on Wednesday, March 30.

The Panel members were Tommy Dalton, Kim Moloney and John Carrol, all of Ireland.

The panel found sufficient mitigation to conclude that the action of the Player did not meet the red card threshold.

Accordingly, the citing has been dismissed.

It meant Louw was available for selection for the game against the Dragons on Friday, but the release of his clearance came after the Sharks named their team.

Jeremy Ward starts in the No.12 jersey against the Dragons.