Rugby: Owen Franks and Tevita Nabura cited for foul play

Tevita Nabura was sent off early in the Highlanders loss to the Waratahs. Photo / Getty Images

Crusaders prop Owen Franks has been cited for a head-high tackle that forced Blues hooker James Parsons from the field in their clash on Saturday night.

Franks was only issued a warning by referee Glen Jackson at the time of the incident, but upon further review of the match footage, SANZAAR's citing commissioner deemed the incident met the red card threshold for foul play.

It was the second week in a row the Crusaders were lucky not to lose a player to foul play during a match after fellow prop Joe Moody took out Waratahs back Kurtley Beale in the win over the Australians a week prior.

Joining Franks in the firing line of the citing commissioner was Highlanders winger Tevita Nabura, who was shown a red card against the Waratahs for extending his leg while catching a high ball and collecting an opposition player in the jaw.