John Buchan suspended

Press, 1 June 1988, Page 76

John Buchan suspended

The Canterbury rugby captain, John Buchan, has been suspended for four playing days after being sent off during a senior club match last Sunday.

Buchan was playing for the University side against Sydenham when he was sent off for his part in a fracas late in the match. Earlier he had been sin-binned for overvigorous rucking.

Last evening the Canterbury Rugby Union’s management committee endorsed its judicial committee’s recommendation that Buchan, an All Black hooker to Japan last year, be suspended from all rugby up to and including Saturday, June 25.

The chairman of the judicial committee, Charlie Rhodes, said Buchan had admitted throwing a punch when he appeared before the committee last evening. Buchan later de-

dined to comment on the suspension. He will miss club games against Marist, Lyttelton, High School Old Boys and Linwood as well as . the Canterbury team’s match against the West Coast on June 19. He will be eligible to play against MidCanterbury on June 28 at Ashburton.

Meanwhile, a former Canterbury squad member, Peter McLaren, had his application for reinstatement to rugby approved. McLaren, who played rugby league for one season last year for Papanui, is likely to link up with the New Brighton club again. , The president of the Canterbury a union, Les Russell, praised the work done by the committee members before the first test between the All Blacks and Wales last Saturday.