All Blacks prop Angus Ta’avao will miss the third and deciding Test against Ireland after receiving a 3-week ban for a head clash incident. Photo: PA
All Blacks’ Angus Ta’avao handed 3-WEEK ban for sickening head clash
All Blacks prop Angus Ta’avao will miss the third and deciding Test against Ireland after receiving a 3-week ban for a head clash incident.
All Blacks prop Angus Ta’avao will miss the third and deciding Test against Ireland after receiving a 3-week ban for a head clash incident. Photo: PA
New Zealand prop Angus Ta’avao will miss the third and deciding Test against Ireland after receiving a three-week suspension for a head clash incident that resulted in his sending off in the second Test.
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Ta’avao was shown a red card after a sickening collision with ball-carrying outside centre Garry Ringrose in the first half of Saturday’s series-levelling 23-12 loss to the tourists in Dunedin.
Ringrose has been ruled out of Saturday’s Test in Wellington because of an injury suffered in the incident.
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Referee Jaco Peyper initially deemed the collision accidental, before reviewing a replay and determining tighthead Angus Ta’avao could have done more to lower his body position.
Angus Ta’avao had only been on the field for 5 minutes
An independent disciplinary hearing on Tuesday night upheld the red card decision and said the foul play merited a six-week ban, at the mid-range of World Rugby’s disciplinary scale for a late or dangerous tackle.
That suspension was halved on account of Ta’avao’s clean disciplinary record and “other mitigating factors”.
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It can be reduced from three to two weeks if the player goes through World Rugby’s coaching intervention programme, which teaches safe on-field practices.
Angus Ta’avao had been on the field for little more than five minutes, having entered the Test as a replacement for Ofa Tuungafasi, who had been shown a yellow card.
He is likely to be replaced in the matchday squad for Saturday’s third Test in Wellington by Nepo Laulala, a 40-cap veteran who has been recovering from a neck injury.
