Chiefs midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown cited after meeting 'red card threshold'

Chiefs midfielder Anton Lientert-Brown has been cited following the Super Rugby final loss to the Crusaders which saw the All Black yellow carded early in the first half.

Lienert-Brown collided with Crusaders’ right wing Dallas McLeod on a kick-off restart less than 10 minutes into the contest, with the Chiefs’ No 12 making head-on-head contact.

Referee Ben O’Keeffe and the TMO concluded that the challenge warranted a yellow card which was later upheld after a review deemed that McLeod had ‘dipped’ enough to provide mitigating circumstances.

However, a post-game review by the citing commissioner has found that the ‘red card threshold’ was reached with the contact deemed dangerous enough to be investigated for foul play.

The Sanzaar Foul Play Review Committee will meet on Monday and decide what sanction is appropriate.

The Chiefs may have been lucky to escape a red card should the Committee agree with the commissioner’s findings, which would add some reprieve to the match officials who were booed off the ground in the wake of the Chiefs’ loss.

The Crusaders were able to escape from a potentially game-altering moment when a brilliant set-piece try to Emoni Narawa was overturned in the second half.

The deliberate overthrow found Damian McKenzie on the burst who broke away downfield and linked up with the latest All Black call-up for what would have been a 27-15 lead with a successful conversion.

A TMO intervention silenced the FMG Stadium crowd by calling up McKenzie for offside after starting early on his run towards the overthrown line out.

That offered the Crusaders an opportunity to turn the tables and they did so, capitalising on the possession by taking the lead through Codie Taylor’s second try.

They also drew a yellow card offence from Chiefs captain Sam Cane which left the home side down to 14 men for the final period of play.