World Rugby has determined there will be no disciplinary action against NZ despite having eight players on the field when scoring a game-levelling try against Australia in the final pool match between the trans-Tasman rivals at the Sydney Sevens.
The game's governing body released a statement on Thursday, saying it had concluded its investigation into the alleged breach of Law 3 by the NZ sevens team during last weekend's Pool A game.
While Law 3.2 provides for a penalty kick to be awarded when a team fields more than the maximum number of players, the referee was not aware of the additional Kiwi player on the field before the end of the match, according to the statement.
"The investigation, undertaken by the designated disciplinary official, has determined that, while New Zealand did field eight players, it was an inadvertent breach as a consequence of a number of factors relating to the management of replacements involving a number of parties.
"World Rugby's misconduct process caters for unsporting actions, cheating and ill-discipline (among other behaviours) which are at a level that bring or have the potential to bring the game into disrepute.
