Aaron Woods has avoided a ban for a dangerous tackle on Lebanon prop Tim Mannah.
The Australia forward has been cleared of any wrongdoing despite being penalised for tipping the Lebanon forward above the horizontal during the Kangaroos’ final World Cup group game.
He will be free to play in the quarter-final against Samoa, although the 26-year-old admitted he did fear he would be suspended for the incident.
“I knew when I did it that it was going into an awkward situation, so I tried to pull him back,” Woods told the press.
“That’s why he didn’t land on his neck or his shoulder. I tried my best. I got caught in a bad situation. I won’t be pulling any legs any time soon.
“It didn’t look good when they did the slow motion on the camera. I was a bit nervous. I knew I did the right thing in the tackle. I tried to do my best and prevent things from happening and make sure he was safe.
“You can say I was a bit nervous. You never know what the judiciary is going to do with it. It was good to get off and hopefully be in contention this week.”
David Klemmer has also been cleared of a shoulder charge on Chris Saab.
