Outrage at Darcy Swain’s weak ban for horror Bleidsloe Cup tackle All Blacks Wallabies Quinn Tupaea

Rugby fans have been left raging after Australia’s Darcy Swain received what they believe is a soft six-week ban for an incident that left New Zealand’s Quinn Tupaea with a season-ending knee injury.

Tupaea ruptured his medial cruciate ligament and partially tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee after Swain entered a ruck and made firm contact with the All Black’s outstretched leg.

Swain received a yellow card at the time but was cited after last week’s Bledisloe Cup match at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium.

Tupaea (pictured above) ruptured his medial cruciate ligament and partially tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee as a result of the illegal hit

The SANZAAR judicial committee ban will extend to November 6, ruling Swain out of tour matches against Scotland at Murrayfield on October 30 and France in Paris on November 6.

It also means the Wallabies lock will watch on from home as Dave Rennie’s side head to Eden Park on Saturday to face a seething All Blacks.

Cadeyrn Neville will replace Swain, with the Wallabies confirming the Brumbies lock has made a full recovery from a knee injury picked up against England and will start in the second row in Auckland.

Rugby fans took to social media to savage the ‘light’ decision handed out to Swain.

‘Darcy Swain gets 6 weeks. Shame on you. Gutless bastards,’ wrote one Twitter user.

Darcy Swain was given a yellow card for the incident in the Bledisloe Cup and fronted a SANZAAR Judicial Committee hearing on Wednesday night

‘6 Week ban for Darcy Swain. 9/12 Months out injured for the All Blacks player. World Rugby is a Joke. Absolutely Shocking,’ added a second.

‘Darcy Swain’s lawyer will be getting a lot more gigs,’ joked a third.

The episode has riled many in the New Zealand camp, with Beauden Barrett labelling it a ‘free shot’ on a ‘sitting duck’.

‘In the immediate aftermath of the All Blacks’ barn-busting 39-37 victory, coach Ian Foster said his side ‘had big issues’ with the incident.’

‘We’ve got a player who’s probably out for nine months and you’re not allowed to target legs on the side at cleanout past the ball,’ he said.

‘The rules are pretty clear.’

Many rugby fans believe Swain got off very lightly for the horror tackle – citing the decision as ‘gutless’ and ‘shameful’

While many are holding on to the anger from the hit, at Thursday’s team naming in Auckland, Foster demurred on further fuelling the fire.

‘It is what it is … so he’s got what he’s got,’ he said.

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie downplayed the incident last week, saying he was not sure it was worth a yellow card.

‘It was certainly nothing intentional. Ironically, he got neck-rolled prior to him cleaning out, but that wasn’t picked up,’ Rennie said in the post-match press conference.

Swain will also miss next month’s Australia A tour of Japan, the squad for which he was controversially named in this week in what some felt was a ploy to use up his suspension.

New Zealand coach Ian Foster said on Friday that Tupaea (pictured) will be sidelined for at least three months. The act was not found to be intentional but ‘highly reckless’

The 25-year-old has played more often for the Wallabies this season than any other Australia A squad member.

In making the ban time-related, rather than match-related, Sanzaar has negated that issue.

Swain was found guilty of contravening Law 9.11 that ‘players must not do anything that is reckless or dangerous to others’.

The act was not found to be intentional but ‘highly reckless’.