Kanaar handed three-month ban

Aspiring Wallaby lock forward Alex Kanaar has been suspended for the next three months, ruling him out of Australia’s four-Test tour of France and the UK.

Kanaar, who came into national coach Eddie Jones’ plans before the last Tri Nations match against New Zealand in Auckland, was found guilty by the NSWRU Judiciary of stamping on the head of Eastwood’s Ben Hand in Saturday’s major semi-final of the Tooheys New Cup.

Chaired by Terry Willis, the judiciary ordered that Kanaar be banned from playing all forms of rugby up to and including December 19, 2005. The suspension will also rule Kanaar out of the NSW Waratahs development tour to Eastern Europe as well as the Wallaby tour that follows.

The tribunal could have handed down a longer sentence, up to nine months, but took into account Kanaar’s guilty plea, previous unblemished record and impressive character reference from NSW head coach Ewen McKenzie.

McKenzie appeared before the panel stating that Kanaar was of good character with strong leadership qualities and the incident was totally out of character.

This year has seen a rapid rise for Kanaar, who debuted for the NSW Waratahs in the Super 12 opener and went on to play in the final.