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England hooker Amy Cokayne suspended after Six Nations red card
By PA
England hooker Amy Cokayne will miss Saturday’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations clash with Ireland following her sending-off against Scotland.
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The Red Roses completed the final 25 minutes of their 46-0 victory in Edinburgh with only 14 players after Cokayne received her second yellow card, resulting in her dismissal.
The first offence was a dangerous clear out and the second a dangerous tackle, with a disciplinary committee awarding a two-match suspension that was reduced to one because of mitigation.
Cokayne, who was making her first appearance in 12 months after recovering from a calf injury, will return for the probable Grand Slam decider against France on Saturday week.
England ‘won’ the hooker’s 10-minute first-half absence in Edinburgh 7-0 and after she saw yellow again and then red in the 55th minute, they also ‘won’ the ensuing 25 minutes of remaining play 17-0.
Asked post-game if he had any complaints about the through-the-horizontal and shoulder-to-head contact yellow cards for Cokayne, who was playing her first Test match in 12 months, England boss John Mitchell said: “No.
“End of the day we encourage the girls to play on the edge. Sometimes you get it right and sometimes you don’t. Amy has just come back.
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“I guess it just creates awareness for all of us that we got to make sure that we get our tackle height right.
“I thought her first card was a little bit difficult I think because the player did return to safety in that instance, so it probably deserved a penalty but yeah, we will learn from the tackle height.”
