All Black winger Jonah Lomu lost an appeal against a two match ban on Tuesday which means he misses Wellington Hurricanes' last two Super 12 league matches.

A South Africa New Zealand Australia Rugby (SANZAR) Appeals Tribunal confirmed a two-match ban for a dangerous tackle on centre Nathan Grey in Saturday's 27-20 Super 12 win over New South Wales.

The tribunal said in a statement the suspension could have been longer if not for Lomu's excellent reputation.

"The Appeals Tribunal had to consider the question of deterrent and made it plain that all rugby players have to be made aware dangerous tackles like the one here cannot be condoned - the tackle being high risk, dangerous and totally unacceptable," the statement said.

Lomu said he was pretty disappointed by the result but had received a fair hearing.

"You've got to try your best, even though it was disappointing, for me it was more of a relief than anything else," Lomu said afterwards.

The Hurricanes are currently fourth in the league going into their last two matches against the Stormers in Cape Town on May 7 and Bulls in Pretoria on May 12.

"If all goes well, which I truly believe in the Hurricanes boys, they could get there and hopefully I will get a chance to have a shot at the finals," Lomu said.

As for the tackle itself, Lomu said: "I can't really talk about it because it was such a split second thing. It was sort of like a bit out of control."

Hurricanes chief executive David White felt the suspension was not in line with the nature of the incident though he said he in no way condoned dangerous play.

Lomu's dismissal continued the poor disciplinary trend set by the Hurricanes who have received three red and 10 yellow cards, representing just over a quarter of the 50 cards handed out in Super 12.

"There is no question it is a concern, we've discussed it with team management," White said.

Hurricanes coach Graham Mourie said after Saturday's match he felt his team had got, "a bit of a raw deal over some yellow cards we've had this year."