Rugby's governing body has taken no action against the Sharks after the Durban-based side fielded an extra man in their Super 14 win over the Queensland Reds.

After a number of drawn-out teleconferences to resolve the issue, SANZAR has elected not to punish the Sharks for the infringement that gave them an extra player for 51 seconds on March 29.

The Reds were fuming last week over a lack of communication from SANZAR officials, with coach Phil Mooney questioning whether a blind eye was being turned.

He also revealed to brisbanetimes.com.au that the Cheetahs had fielded an extra man for an unspecified period during their round two match with the Western Force at Bloemfontein.

The Reds believed Sharks substitute Craig Burden was on the field for more than two minutes and made a crucial tackle on a charging Chris Latham.

But the report says Burden was in play for 51 seconds after coming onto the field in the 69th minute and had no impact on the outcome of the game.

According to SANZAR:

The match referee Chris Pollock acted appropriately in his dealing with the situation;

The incident arose as a result of a breakdown in communication between the match officials sideline management team and the Sharks management;

The Sharks were found not to have made any detrimental contribution to the incident;

There was no material impact on the final result of the match. Therefore, the result, score and points awarded remain unchanged.

SANZAR said the South Africa Rugby Union has already addressed the issue with the sideline management officials and undertook to take remedial action in order to avoid any such recurrences.

The QRU said last week it wasn't seeking a bonus point from the debacle but needed assurances the matter was being dealt with and wouldn't arise again.