All Blacks prop escapes sanction

Owen Franks has not been cited for an alleged eye-gouge on Kane Douglas during Saturday's match in Wellington.

TV footage of the incident, which occurred in the seventh minute, appeared to show Franks making contact with Douglas near the eye area on two separate occasions in a maul.

'We saw it at the time but I'm sure the match review will pick it up,' said Wallabies coach Michael Cheika said after the match. 'They couldn't miss it, it was pretty in the open. It'd be pretty hard for the match review to miss.'

However, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen insisted Franks had done nothing wrong, and Sanzaar agreed.

'I've seen the footage and I agree with the independent person who said there's nothing to answer for. You've got to be really, really careful until you see all the views, and social media I think alerted everyone to it. Whoever was running it has obviously seen all the angles and believes there's nothing to answer for. I think at times people might have been a little overkeen, but it was all push and shove. There's nothing really in it really.'

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Wallabies did not make an official complaint about the incident, because they were convinced Sanzaar would cite Franks.

VIDEO: Owen Franks eye-gouge?

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