All Blacks: Mealamu suspension reduced

Keven Mealamu's four-week suspension was dropped to a two-week ban following his appeal. Photo / Getty Images

All Black hooker Keven Mealamu's grand slam tour lives on after an IRB appeal committee reduced his suspension from four weeks to a fortnight.

Mealamu will now be available for the All Blacks final test of the tour against Wales in Cardiff on November 27.

The committee, made up of chairman Peter Ingwersen (South Africa), Robert Williams (Wales) and Jean Noel Couraud (France) met at Edinburgh today to consider the four-week suspension imposed by Professor Lorne Crerar at a hearing on November 9.

The All Blacks argued that Mealamu did not intentionally aim a headbutt at England's Lewis Moody during the November 6 test at Twickenham and the panel agreed. That automatically reduced the scale of the punishment from eight weeks to four and Mealamu's previous clean record saw that further reduced to two.

"I've never, ever played the game to hurt anyone and to finally get something through that says I was reckless and didn't take care about how I did it, is a lot better than saying I intentionally tried to headbutt someone," Mealamu said.

"For me it's a lot of relief. It's been a tough week, having something hang over my head like this."

Mealamu said the first he knew of the incident was when he was informed he would be cited and his most difficult task was trying to put a two-second incident into context in an 80-minute game.

Assistant coach Steve Hansen, who was one of Mealamu's representatives at the original hearing and the appeal, said it was some vindication for a player who in 82 tests had not even had a yellow card.

"The discussion with the various people we've had has always been the same. There was no intent to clash heads. For us, that was the most important thing."

Hansen said the All Blacks considered headbutting a "huge act of foul play" and did not want that stain on his career.

"He's not like that, we know he's not like that; that's why we've supported him so strongly. Reckless, yes, but it certainly wasn't intentional."

Mealamu was bracketed with Hawkes Bay's Hika Elliot for this weekend's test against Scotland, though in likelihood he would not have started, even if he had been completely exonerated.