Manu Tuilagi's citing for dangerous tackle dismissed

England international Manu Tuilagi has been cleared of the citing charges for a dangerous tackle following Leicester Tigers' recently concluded European Champions Cup clash against Munster at Welford Road.

The 26-year-old appeared before a disciplinary panel on Wednesday after being cited for an alleged dangerous tackle on Chris Cloete in the 49th minute of the game which the Tigers went on to lose by 16-25.

The three-strong disciplinary panel found that while Tuilagi had committed "a reckless act of foul play in that his shoulder had made contact with Cloete's head", the offence did not warrant a red card.

Leicester head coach Matt O'Connor expressed relief on the news on Tuilagi, who was making his first appearance after recovering from a knee injury that he sustained in the opening round of the season.

"Thankfully sanity prevailed. Now that he's back fit you'd be devastated for him and the group if he was to miss games now with a ban.

"We were very surprised the citing came through. There was no malicious intent, it wasn't particularly high and it looked a pretty sound tackle from our perspective."

Tuilagi's career has been hampered by serious chest, groin, knee and hamstring injuries and has also suffered disciplinary setbacks previously.