Williams gets six-week ban for trampling

Blues players Ali Williams (left) and David Gibson go into the judicial hearing last night. Picture / Mark Mitchell

The besieged Blues suffered another severe jolt last night when senior lock Ali Williams was banned for six weeks for trampling.

Williams' suspension rules him out of the Super 12 until the last two rounds. It will cost him about $15,000 in wages and reduce his chances of test selection against the Lions.

Team-mates David Gibson and Sam Tuitupou were banned for a fortnight on a similar charge and will miss the Blues next game against the Brumbies.

"We are shocked at the severity of Ali's suspension," franchise chief executive David White said last night.

"We want to get all the information together and deliberate about that before we say anything further."

Discussion about any appeal will wait until today because Williams, his team-mates and legal counsel stayed in Wellington overnight.

All three players admitted they rucked Crusaders' captain Richie McCaw rather than rucking for the ball late in the 41-19 weekend loss at Eden Park.

The Sanzar judiciary ruled those actions were illegal.

The bans will increase the Blues' indignation after loose forward Jerome Kaino was outed for a fortnight for a dangerous tackle in the second-round game against the Queensland Reds.

The latest suspensions have stacked further pressure on the team who slumped to defeat against the Crusaders after a shoddy loss the week before to the Chiefs.

Even before last night's judicial decisions, coach Peter Sloane had promised he would be making changes for the side's next game against the Brumbies, on April 2, after a bye this weekend.

Bradley Mika is the likeliest locking beneficiary after Williams' suspension, while Luke McAlister should slot in for Tuitupou in midfield.

Gibson's absence will generate more halfback worries as the experienced Steve Devine is struggling to overcome a hip injury.

Standby halfback Ben Meyer will join the squad and further halfback cover may have to be chosen.

Those difficulties have come on top of a long-term injury to tighthead prop Taufa'ao Filise and the erratic form of the side.

The Blues players eventually faced a Sanzar judicial hearing in Wellington after fog and plane delays altered their original scheduled attendance on Monday.

The ban rules Williams out until the Blues' last two pool matches against the Hurricanes and Waratahs.

His penalty is the heaviest on a New Zealand player since another Blues forward, Troy Flavell, was suspended for three months in early 2003.

It follows a Sanzar decision the previous week which banned Reds forward Daniel Heenan for similar bootwork on McCaw in a match at Nelson.

Williams was cited in 2003 and exonerated on a charge of stomping on the head of Josh Lewsey during the All Blacks' loss to England in Wellington.

A Sanzar judiciary chaired by Bruce Squire, QC, met in Wellington last night for several hours before they delivered their verdicts.

Williams was automatically required to attend the hearing after being sent off by referee Paddy O'Brien, on the advice of touch judge Paul Honiss, for stamping on the Crusaders' skipper.

Gibson and Tuitupou were cited by commissioner Steve Hinds for trampling McCaw in the same dust-up.