Springbok captain found not guilty

Springbok captain Corne Krige was found not guilty of punching Australian flanker George Smith during South Africa's dramatic 33-31 win at Ellis Park on Saturday.

Krige appeared before a South African Rugby Football Union disciplinary hearing along with outside centre Marius Joubert, who was red-carded for a high tackle on Australian replacement Matt Rogers.

The hearing found that Joubert's sending off was punishment enough and he would not face any further sanction.

It was the second time this summer Krige had to appear before a disciplinary committee in the Tri-Nations series.

After the away game against New Zealand he was cited for allegedly biting All Black No 8 Scott Robertson, but Krige was found not guilty.

Anthony MacKaiser, general manager: communications at SA Rugby (Pty) Ltd, said that Krige was cleared of any wrong doing by the panel.

"The panel took about 30 minutes to hear each case," he said. "Corne Krige was cited by the New Zealand citing commissioner Steve Hinds for the alleged punch on George Smith, but he was found not guilty," confirmed MacKaiser.

Krige admitted on Saturday evening at the post match press conference that the Boks were guilty of tackling high.

"The high tackling is something we will have to work on in the future," he said.

Meanwhile, Wallaby fullback Chris Latham escaped censure for what looked like a bite on Springbok centre De Wet Barry's hand. Barry reacted with a punch to Latham's head that earned him ten minutes in the sin-bin, while Latham has yet to receive any punishment for the alleged bite.