Aussie Darcy Swain labelled a ‘thug’ after ‘absolutely disgusting’ tackle

While Australia was raging over the last minute call which cost the side a Bledisloe win, New Zealand was fuming over a call of their own.

Darcy Swain has been hammered. Photo: Channel 9 and Getty Images

Wallabies forward Darcy Swain has been blasted for his ugly tackle on All Black Quinn Tupaea during Thursday night’s Bledisloe Cup thriller.

The 39-37 result saw the All Blacks retain the Bledisloe Cup for a 20th straight season but the rugby giants are set for at least three months without Tupaea.

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It was the 35th minute at 10-all when Swain was shown a yellow card — one of five for the match — when he dived into the knee of the All Blacks midfielder who was engaged over the ball in a ruck.

Tupaea’s knee buckled from the contact and he had to be helped from the field.

All Blacks coach Ian Foster confirmed it was a ruptured medial cruciate ligament and partially torn anterior cruciate ligament and it would end his season.

“He’s been cited for it so we just let the process happen now,” Foster said of Swain.

“Now we just sit back and see what happens.”

SANZAAR, who oversee the Rugby Championship and Super Rugby competitions, revealed Swain would front the judiciary on Monday, releasing a statement revealing it deemed the contact dangerous enough to warrant a red card.

“Swain is alleged to have contravened Law 9.11: Players must not do anything that is reckless and dangerous to others, during the match between Australia and New Zealand at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne,” the statement from SANZAAR read.

“The referee for the match, Mathieu Raynal, awarded Swain a yellow card for the incident which occurred in the 35th minute.

“Upon further review of the match footage, the Citing Commissioner deemed in his opinion the incident had met the Red Card threshold for foul play.

“The Case is to be considered in the first instance by the SANZAAR Foul Play Review Committee which will take place on Monday 19 September via videoconference.”

Swain was lucky to get a yellow. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Swain has been suspended already this season after a headbutt against England’s Jonny Hill in a heated clash in July.

But the latest drama has sparked plenty of outrage, with the tackle being labelled a “dog act” and “thuggery”.

Speaking on SEN NZ, former All Black Izzy Dagg labelled Swain a “thug”.

“There is no excuse for the thuggery, and what I saw last night was top of the list of thugs,” Dagg told SENZ Breakfast.

“I hope he gets punished.”

Dagg himself retired at the age of 30 following a long-term knee injury.

Dagg said he was “disgusted” by the way Tupaea was targeted.

“Did you see the way his leg went in? Honestly, it’s horrible. I can’t stand that … horrific,” Dagg continued.

“I’m disgusted because you’re vulnerable anyway; you’re over the ball and he’s seen the knee.

“Your knee only has to go five per cent in or out and it’s gone. MCL, ACL pinged, full knee reconstruction … it’s horrible.

“Once you do a knee, it is a long journey back; 6 months minimum and he (Swain) has targeted that.

“It’s not the first time Darcy Swain’s been doing it, (he’s) an absolute thug.”

Quinn Tupaea got a bad one. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

He wasn’t alone as Sky Sport rugby commentator Tony Johnson called the tackle “grotesque”.

Former All Black Lima Sopoaga tweeted: “Hope there is a lengthy ban for rubbish like this.”

Ex-England star Andy Goode posted: “Great call from Ben Whitehouse the TMO on calling out the clear out by Darcy Swain targeting the leg/knee of Quinn Tupaea who’s now hobbled off injured. Should have been a red card not a yellow though”.

Here’s the woeful clearout from Darcy Swain targeting the knee/lower leg of Quinn Tupaea. Shocking and a red card all day long #AusvNZpic.twitter.com/8dbNbBmLc4

— Andy Goode (@AndyGoode10) September 15, 2022

Retired Samoan rugby star Junior Poluleuligaga wrote: “Poor Tupaea. Speedy recovery to the young kid. Looks like a lengthy spell on the sidelines. Hope Swain he’s gets a long ban for that dog act.“

New Zealand journalist Mark Stafford posted: “If either political party has a policy to crack down on Darcy Swain they’ve got my vote.”

However, Swain was unsurprisingly supported by his coach as Dave Rennie went into bad for the under-fire star.

“I’m not convinced about Darcy’s (yellow card),” Rennie said. “It was certainly nothing intentional. Ironically, he got neck-rolled prior to him cleaning out, but that wasn’t picked up.”