Cape Town - Southern Kings prop Pieter Scholtz has been handed a four-week ban after receiving a red card in his side's 61-13 PRO14 loss to Edinburgh on January 4.
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Scholtz received his marching orders after his attempted hand-off on John Barclay connected with the throat of the Edinburgh loose forward.
The Kings front-ranker was shown a red card by referee Joy Neville under Law 9.11 - A player must not do anything that is reckless or dangerous to others.
A disciplinary hearing took place in Neath via video conference and the panel - comprising of Rhian Williams (chair), Simon Thomas and Nigel Williams (all Wales) - concluded that there was an act of foul play which merited a mid-range entry point due to contact with the neck/head area of his opponent.
The player's previous record and behaviour during the process were considered and mitigation of 40% was applied.
As a result, Scholtz has been banned for a period of four weeks and will be free to play from midnight on Sunday, February 16.