MARK Gasnier was so heavily concussed by the "cheap shot" that led to Steve Matai being sent off in yesterday's Test and suspended for two matches that he could not recall the Kiwis centre coming into the Australian dressing room and apologising to him.

While the international judiciary deemed Matai's 24th-minute tackle to be merely careless, Kangaroos coach Ricky Stuart was scathing of the Manly star when asked his view of the incident after the match and supported English referee Steven Ganson's decision to dismiss him.

"It was late and it was a cheap shot - and it's in his game," Stuart said.

After hearing of his suspension late last night, Stuart said: "He got off very lightly."

The hit, which Matai claimed was an attempt to show his passion for the New Zealand jersey, left Gasnier unconscious on the ground, and Australian medical staff reported he was "snoring" when they went on to the field to assess him.

After being taken from the field on a medicab, the St George Illawarra co-captain was able to watch only the last five minutes of Australia's record 58-0 win on television in the dressing room and still felt like vomiting after the game.

His only recollection of the match was 18-year-old Australian debutant Israel Folau's first try in the 15th minute, and when he came to Gasnier believed he had been playing at Melbourne's Telstra Dome - not Westpac Stadium in Wellington.

"He's not good, he just came to in the back end of the game and was able to shower and get changed but at half-time he couldn't open his eyes," Stuart said. "He actually thought he was in Melbourne, he's been very sick."

Matai, who is booked for shoulder surgery next week and was unavailable for the Kiwis' tour of England and France, will serve his suspension in Manly's two NRL sanctioned pre-season trials - an outcome many consider farcical.

Kangaroos forward Willie Mason yelled at Ganson, "F---ing send him off," and told his teammates, "We owe that c---." But afterwards he was one of the few in the Australian camp prepared to defend Matai.

"You're playing for Australia and I'm sure if something happened to them they'd all be pumped up, but it was just one of those things," Mason said. "I feel sorry for Stevie because I don't think he intentionally meant to knock Gaz out, he came in and apologised, and he's a pretty decent bloke. I know him off the field and he tries to play really aggressive."

New Zealand coach Gary Kemble did not want to comment on the incident after the match but questioned whether Ganson had overreacted and said he should have placed Matai on report rather than sending him off.

Ganson sent off Great Britain prop Adrian Morley in the opening Test of the 2003 series against Australia, and Stuart said there was no doubt Matai would suffer the same fate - and believed he deserved to.

"You've got to do research on the referee, and Steve Ganson is known to react to those type of incidents," Stuart said.

"He sent Moz off in the first minute of the game, so he is not going to hesitate but, when it's late and cheap like that, it's not good for the game. We see a lot of reaction shots that are high in our game because of the speed of it, and they're not send-offs, but that was late, and when I say late, he knew where he was going."

Ganson told the tribunal, which found that Matai's shoulder - not his arm - had struck Gasnier in the head and that the tackle was not late, that he had no hesitation in sending the 23-year-old Kiwi off after hearing a report from his touch judge, as he had already awarded four penalties for high shots and warned both captains "any further incident will be treated seriously".

Sydney Roosters winger Shaun Kenny-Dowall is on standby to fly to England, with the Kiwis tomorrow after Cronulla's Luke Covell (dislocated elbow) and Parramatta's Krisnan Inu (AC joint) both failed to finish the match.