Johannesburg - The bad news for the Lions is that they have lost the services of Emmanuel Tshituka for their Challenge Cup match against Glasgow but the better news is that veteran Jaco Kriel is set to take his place after recovering from injury.
Tshituka has been in blistering form this year and the Lions will be disappointed that a disciplinary tribunal has suspended him for three weeks in the wake of his red card against Racing 92 at the weekend.
Just 18 minutes into that match, English referee Karl Dickson sent Tshituka off after his forearm connected with the head of Racing fullback Louis Dupichot.
A statement made by the Independent Disciplinary Committee said Tshituka was red-carded for “striking the Racing 92 fullback with his forearm in a dangerous manner”.
Tshituka was cited under Law 9.11 Reckless or dangerous play – leading with the elbow or forearm, which carries a low-range sanction entry point of two weeks and mid-range of six weeks.
The committee upheld the red card decision, finding that Tshituka had been guilty of reckless foul play. It then determined that the offence was at the mid-range of World Rugby’s sanctions and six weeks was selected as the appropriate entry point.
Due to the player’s exemplary disciplinary record and his immediate apology to Dupichot, the committee reduced the sanction by three weeks before imposing a three-week suspension.
Tshituka is free to play on April 24. However, if he applies for and successfully completes a World Rugby Coaching Intervention, he will be free to play on April 17.
This means he would be available for the Lions’ final United Rugby Championship (URC) game of the season against Zebre in Johannesburg.
IOL Sport