Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd didn't hold back in his condemnation of Chiefs second-five Johnny Fa'auli after his no-arms hit left Wes Goosen in doubt for next weekend's Super Rugby quarter-final rematch between the two sides.
In the second half of the Chiefs' 28-24 win in Hamilton last night, Fa'auli, 22, was shown a straight red card for his tackle on Goosen, who failed two separate concussion tests, unable to return to the field.
Speaking after the match, Boyd was highly critical of the incident, which has all but ruled Goosen out of next week's quarter-final in Wellington.
"I mean, I don't like to see a red card in any game, but red is red, and you don't get a more obvious red card than that," Boyd said.
"That was shoulder, no arms, straight to the head, with force, with intent. There's no butting out of any of that.
"So that was a deliberate act. The Chiefs will be disappointed with that action, I'm assuming the player will be disappointed with that action. And at the end of the day, he got, in the end, what was necessary."
Chiefs coach Colin Cooper came to the defence of his young player, although did admit his disappointment at Fa'auli's actions.
"He's (Fa'auli) better than that," Cooper said.
"He looks to stamp his mark defensively, but he's got to do it within the rules, he just can't drift up, particularly towards the head."
Fa'auli will now face a judicial hearing for the incident, which could see him banned for the remainder of the Chiefs Super Rugby campaign.
The Hurricanes were forced to delete a tweet following the incident, bringing up Fa'auli's history of violent conduct .
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