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Watch: The Super Cup altercation that's seen Georgia captain banned for three Tests
By Sam Smith
Georgia may have celebrated a second successive Super Cup victory over the weekend, but the win has come at a cost.
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Merab Sharikadze, captain of both the Georgia national side and the Tbilisi-based Black Lion, has been handed a six-match suspension after headbutting Tel Aviv Heat No 10 Jordan Chait.
The incident occurred in the 28th minute of the match and could have proved disastrous for the Black Lion, who led the game 15-3 and were camped out on Tel Aviv’s line.
After Sharikadze had trucked the ball up in the midfield, referee Paulo Duarte blew his whistle and brought play to a penalty for the Georgian side. The Black Lion captain lifted himself off the ground and began trotting back to his teammates but turned sharply on his heels after walking past Chait, who appeared to say something to Sharikadze.
Sharikadze approached the Heat flyhalf, raising his arms in frustration, and delivered a swift headbutt to the No 10.
Without a TMO to call upon, and with none of the officials catching the headbutt, Sharikadze escaped any punishment at the time and the Black Lion went on to claim the title with a 29-17 win.
Following a citing, however, the Georgian captain has now been handed a six-game suspension, which will see Sharikadze miss the opening three rounds of next year’s Rugby Europe Championship.
The citation panel found that the headbutt warranted a mid-end sanction of approximately 10 weeks however Sharikadze’s clean disciplinary record over a long career justified a decreased sentence, whilst also noting “the sudden turn/change of direction of the player is a sufficient indication for some unpleasant remark by the opponent in passing”.
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“The action of the player is not in any way acceptable in rugby, not in general nor as a reaction to an unpleasant remark or insult. Although the player is not apologetic for doing it, he is apologetic for what happened. The panel is convinced that the example he is for other and especially younger players will prevent the same behaviour in the future.”
Sharikadze will sit out three clubs games for Georgian Didi 10 second division side Lunkerebi Kiketi, and will also be absent for Los Lelo’s international Tests against Germany, the Netherlands and Spain.
29-year-old Sharikadze has accumulated over 80 Test appearances for Georgia in a career spanning 11 years.
