Keven Mealamu - Controversy

Controversy

Mealamu and All Blacks captain, Tana Umaga, were involved in an incident in the first test of the Lions tour to New Zealand on 25 June 2005. In the first minute of the Test, Mealamu and Umaga combined to upend Lions captain Brian O'Driscoll in a controversial post-ruck clean-out. The clean-out resulted in O'Driscoll dislocating his shoulder, necessitating surgery and causing him to miss the rest of the tour. O'Driscoll and Lions management characterized the incident as a "deliberate spear tackle". The independent citing commissioner found that neither Mealamu nor Umaga had a case to answer at the time due to inconclusive evidence, but after viewing new amateur footage of the incident, Greg Thomas, communications manager for the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board (IRB), described the tackle as "unacceptably dangerous" and stated that IRB was instructing referees to suspend players for three to six months for such offenses. After the controversy, Mealamu's reputation was reinforced by his exceptional play during New Zealand's triumphant 2005 Tri Nations campaign in which he scored the key winning try and bonus point against the Springboks in Dunedin. He also scored a match-winning try against England later that year in Twickenham on 19 November.

Following a test match against England at Twickenham on 6 November 2010, Mealamu was cited by the independent citing commissioner (John West, Ireland) for headbutting Lewis Moody. He was found guilty by Professor Lorne Crerar and given a 4 week ban. On appeal this was reduced to two weeks. The appeal panel (Peter Ingwersen of South Africa, Robert Williams of Wales and Jean Noel Couraud of France) issued a statement saying "Although upheld the original decision that there had been an act of foul play, having had the opportunity to review the video footage, concluded that the act was not intentional and that it merited a lower-end entry point in the IRB list of sanctions, namely four weeks. In view of the compelling mitigating factors and the absence of aggravating factors, this was reduced to two weeks."