Blues coach Pat Lam has copped a further hit as he and his beleaguered squad tried to lie low during their Super 15 bye week.
Lam has been reprimanded and forced to apologise to Sanzar and citing commissioner Steve Hinds for comments he made about the length of Blues flanker Luke Braid's suspension for striking. The Blues coach could not believe Braid had been banned for three weeks while Hurricanes hooker Dane Coles escaped any penalty for striking Highlanders prop Bronson Murray.
"The citing commission has to look at themselves there," Lam said. "All you ask for is fairness. So we've got one guy out for three weeks and one guy who is playing.
"The citing commissioners have got to do a job. The one in South Africa picked it up and Luke has to face the consequences; whereas the one in Wellington, I'm not sure what he was looking at."
Those comments irked Sanzar officials but chief executive Greg Peters said that after some consideration, they had chosen not to take the matter any further.