All Blacks: Sanctions in 'need of work'

All Black halfback Aaron Smith checks on his skipper after Richie McCaw copped a cheap shot. Photo / Getty Images

Sanzar boss accepts process used to ban players for foul play is open to inconsistency.

An inconsistent disciplinary process which has seen Springboks prop Dean Greyling receive only a two-week suspension for his attack on Richie McCaw will be reviewed after the Rugby Championship.

Greyling's forearm smash to McCaw's jaw in the second half of the All Blacks' 21-11 victory in Dunedin on Saturday, for which he was yellow carded, was one of the talking points of the test, as was the sentence handed down. Greyling will miss only one championship match - the encounter against Australia in Pretoria.

A week earlier, Greyling's teammate Eben Etzebeth received a similar sanction for a headbutt on Wallabies lock Nathan Sharpe in which the barest of contacts was made.

Sanzar chief executive Greg Peters yesterday accepted the process was open to accusations of inconsistency.

"I don't have the benefit of being in the hearing or having the written decision in front of me ... but I can see how a fan might see one incident and the other incident and see how the penalties or sanctions might not be of an equivalent nature."

Peters insisted his organisation, which controls the Rugby Championship involving the All Blacks, Wallabies, Springboks and Pumas, was taking discipline - and in particular attacks to the head - seriously.

Neither Sanzar nor the New Zealand Rugby Union has the right to appeal duty judicial officer Paul Tully's sanction handed down to Greyling, and that would be the main point of discussion following the competition, Peters said.

"We want to get consistency of outcome," Peters said, "but I've got to stress that every case is different ...

"Sanzar not having a right of appeal or the national union not having a right of appeal, that's probably one area we'll look at.

"We've got this thing continuously under review. We want the best outcomes. We've got a little bit of work to get there so I think there's a fair acknowledgement of that."

Greyling pleaded guilty to the offence and accepted the sanction. Had he pleaded not guilty, like Etzebeth a week earlier after his incident in Perth, it would have gone to a full hearing where there is a right of appeal.

As it is, both players received the same sanction despite Greyling's offence looking far more serious. In clearing out a ruck, Greyling launched himself at a sitting McCaw and struck him on the jaw with his forearm.

In effect, Greyling has been suspended for only one match as all four teams in the Rugby Championship have a bye this weekend. However, Peters said all matches were considered equal by the International Rugby Board, meaning Greyling's suspension also prevented him from playing for his Blue Bulls team in the Currie Cup.

The different levels of judiciary, and innovations such as a white card to put incidents on review, were brought in on trial for this year's Super Rugby competition and have been carried over to the Rugby Championship.

They have been brought in to dispense justice quickly and cheaply - Tully talked to Greyling and his representative by telephone rather than presiding over a formal hearing.

Peters said a report on the law trials would be sent to the IRB.