01/04/2008 22:01

Liam Del Carme

Johannesburg - The Sharks have already been penalised for playing with 16 men for longer than two minutes during their Super 14 rugby match against the Reds last week.

No further punishment is needed, says Johan Botes, the South African Super 14 director.

"A penalty was awarded to the Reds. It says in the International Rugby Board's law book that a penalty should be awarded if a team has more than the permissible number of players on the field," Botes said.

"This is what happened and no more action can be taken against the Sharks."

The Sharks had 16 players on the field for 2 minutes and ten seconds after substitute hooker Craig Burden had been sent on.

Botes says the referee had not spotted, at first, the numerical advantage the Sharks enjoyed.

"One of the match officials on the touchline saw it but he was unable to inform the referee by radio.

"As soon as there was a break in play, he informed the referee and a penalty was awarded to the Reds," Botes explained.

The incident will be discussed during a teleconference among the three tournament directors. "We'll just talk about it because we take note of what happened," he added.

Sapa reported earlier that the controlling body would investigate an official complaint by the Reds.

Made two important tackles

But Sanzar official Peter Rowles does not expect the Australian side to be awarded a bonus point after the teleconference.

Burden came on in the 68th minute and made two important tackles, including a crucial hit on a Reds danger man Chris Latham.

The Reds thought they should be given a bonus point because Burden's tackle on Latham prevented a try that would have cut the deficit to fewer than seven points.

Rowles said Reds team manager Brendan Morris had submitted a "fairly comprehensive report."

However, he did not believe the Reds would get a bonus point or that the Sharks would be stripped of competition points.

Queensland Rugby Union chairperson Peter Lewis would not say whether there was a fair argument for the Reds to receive a bonus point.

It's an issue for Sanzar. Obviously, if there were a positive outcome it would be appreciated," Lewis said.

"We would expect they look at it seriously but I am not going to tell them how to do their job."

Lewis was surprised at how long Burden was on the field. "Somebody cocked up," he said.

England were fined more than R145 000 for having 16 players on the field during a 2003 World Cup match against Samoa. Dan Luger was on the field for only six seconds.

An England official was also barred from touchline duty for two matches as a result of the incident.