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Sport
Ben McKay and Glenn Moore

Swain cops six-week ban for Tupaea offence

Australia's Darcy Swain has been suspended for six weeks for the ugly cleanout 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.

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.

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."

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.

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".

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