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Mitre 10 Cup star hit with suspension over dangerous tackle on Wellington captain Du'Plessis Kirifi

(Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Bay of Plenty wing Fa’asiu Fuatai will miss his side’s next three matches after being handed a three-week suspension for a dangerous lifting tackle on Wellington captain Du’Plessis Kirifi over the weekend.

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Fuatai was sent from the field as a result of the second half incident, where both he and teammate Chase Tiatia lifted Kirifi while cleaning out a breakdown near their own tryline.

The manoeuvre forced Kirifi to land headfirst on the ground, leaving referee Brendon Pickerill with little choice other than to dish out a red card.

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Wallabies coach Dave Rennie and Ned Hanigan .

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Wallabies coach Dave Rennie and Ned Hanigan .

Although the entry point for a dangerous tackle sanction sits at six weeks, Fuatai’s offence was deemed to be at the lower end of the spectrum in terms of seriousness.

That, combined with a mix of influencing factors – including having faced the judiciary for a similar offence in the past, expressing immediate remorse for his actions and apologising to Kirifi post-match – resulted in a suspension length of three weeks.

The ban will be another blow for Bay of Plenty, who went on to lose the game 32-10 leaving the Steamers in sixth place in the Premiership and five points clear of the relegation zone.

Bay of Plenty will be without Fuatai for their upcoming matches against Auckland, Tasman and Manawatu.

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Read the full New Zealand Rugby press release below:

Bay of Plenty’s Fa’asiu Fuatai has received a three-week suspension after being red carded in the Wellington v Bay of Plenty match in Wellington on Friday 25 September.

Fuatai was sent from the field by referee Brendon Pickerill in the 66th minute of the match for his involvement in a lifting tackle that resulted in opposition player’s head making direct contact with the ground.

The Duty Judicial Officer Aminiasi Kefu found that Fuatai’s action was reckless and the entry point for the sanction was ruled to be at the lower end of the scale of seriousness which has a sanction of six weeks.

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In taking into account aggravating factors, Kefu added two weeks to the sanction as Fuatai had previously been to the judiciary for a similar offence, noting the outcome needed to act as a deterrent to end the pattern of offending. 

Kefu noted that another player was also involved in the tackle and that Fuatai’s participation was only moderate. Other mitigating factors included Fuatai expressing remorse and apologising to the opposition players directly after the match.
 
After considering all factors, the final suspension was confirmed as three weeks, Fuatai will miss Bay of Plenty’s matches again Auckland, Tasman and Manawatu.

In that same match, Bay of Plenty’s Jordan Lay was cited for dangerous play in a ruck, he will face a judicial hearing this week.

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J
JW 1 hour ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Where? I remember saying "unders"? The LNR was formed by the FFR, if I said that in a way that meant the 'pro' side of the game didn't have an equal representation/say as the 'amateur' side (FFR remit) that was not my intent.


But also, as it is the governing body, it also has more responsibility. As long as WR looks at FFR as the running body for rugby in France, that 'power' will remain. If the LNR refuses to govern their clubs use of players to enable a request by FFR (from WR) to ensure it's players are able to compete in International rugby takes place they will simply remove their participation. If the players complain to the France's body, either of their health and safety concerns (through playing too many 'minutes' etc) or that they are not allowed to be part in matches of national interest, my understanding is action can be taken against the LNR like it could be any other body/business. I see where you're coming from now re EPCR and the shake up they gave it, yes, that wasn't meant to be a separate statement to say that FFR can threaten them with EPCR expulsion by itself, simply that it would be a strong repercussion for those teams to be removed (no one would want them after the above).


You keep bringing up these other things I cannot understand why. Again, do you think if the LNR were not acting responsibly they would be able to get away with whatever they want (the attitude of these posters saying "they pay the players")? You may deem what theyre doing currently as being irresponsible but most do not. Countries like New Zealand have not even complained about it because they've never had it different, never got things like windfall TV contracts from France, so they can't complain because theyre not missing out on anything. Sure, if the French kept doing things like withholding million dollar game payments, or causing millions of dollars of devaluation in rights, they these things I'm outlining would be taking place. That's not the case currently however, no one here really cares what the French do. It's upto them to sort themselves out if they're not happy. Now, that said, if they did make it obvious to World Rugby that they were never going to send the French side away (like they possibly did stating their intent to exclude 20 targeted players) in July, well then they would simply be given XV fixtures against tier 2 sides during that window and the FFR would need to do things like the 50/50 revenue split to get big teams visiting in Nov.

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