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Sonny Bill Williams’ appeal against his suspension has been upheld by the independent disciplinary panel of World Rugby meaning he will feature in New Zealand’s Bledisloe Cup opener against Australia later this month.
The All Blacks centre was shown a red card for a dangerous shoulder charge on British and Irish Lions winger Anthony Watson in the second Test in Wellington last month and was suspended for four matches.
New Zealand Rugby had proposed Williams could serve the ban by missing the third Lions test, the final match of the Auckland Blues’ Super Rugby season and two other games before the Wallabies test.
They proposed counting a pre-season match for his National Provincial Championship (NPC) side Counties Manukau and a “three-way” warm-up match played by the All Blacks against two NPC sides as the two games.
An independent committee came to conclusion in favour of Williams after an appeal, saying the match against Counties Manukau and Taranaki on August 11, which was initially left out of the suspension, complied with World Rugby’s definition of a “match”.
Therefore, Williams will now be suspended from all forms of rugby up to and including 11 August.
The All Blacks face the Wallabies in their Rugby Championship opener in Sydney on August 19, with the return match against Australia in Dunedin the following week.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.