Hurricanes prop Reggie Goodes has been suspended for a week for a charge into a ruck that put an end to Chiefs lock Michael Allardice's season. Goodes pleaded guilty to the offence that left Allardice with a ruptured medial ligament in his left knee. Goodes contravened Law 10.4 (h), Dangerous Charging, as he came in from the side and took out the knee of Allardice. The Chiefs lock was visibly in pain but the incident wasn't picked up by the referee or TMO at the time. After the citing, it was viewed as a red card offence. Law 10.4 (h) A player must not charge into a ruck or maul. Charging includes any contact made without use of the arms, or without grasping a player. SANZAR Duty Judicial Officer Robert Stelzner SC said that after reviewing the footage at different angles, as well as the medical report and submissions from Goodes' representative, he found that Goodes was attempting to bind and clear out Allardice in a legal manner.Â* However as his position changed slightly, Goodes ended up missing his intended point of contact. "There was an element of recklessness involved in the manner with which the clean out was attempted, but there was not a reckless disregard for the other player's safety. "This was a clean out that started as a legitimate attempt and went wrong in a matter of seconds with unfortunate consequences which the impact of another player may have contributed to," said Stelzner. Read the full disciplinary hearing statement Allardice will be out of action for up to eight weeks, which makes his expected return date somewhere around the time of the Super Rugby final. Despite the injury, the promising 23-year-old has been retained by the Chiefs, signing for another two years.

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