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Nailiko banned for Hibbard punch

Gloucester hooker Richard Hibbard

La Rochelle lock Jone Qovu Nailiko has been given a two-week ban for punching Richard Hibbard during Gloucester’s European Challenge Cup semi-final victory on Saturday.

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Nailiko hit former Wales hooker Hibbard in the stomach in the second half at Stade Marcel-Deflandre, but was not shown a card by the referee.

Fijian Nailiko had already been sent to the sin-bin for an elbow on Gloucester captain Willi Heinz in the Premiership side’s 16-14 success against the Top 14 leaders.

To make matters worse for Hibbard, Irish referee Andrew Brace told him “I don’t appreciate you throwing yourself on the ground. This is the wrong sport for that.”

Nailiko was cited following a review of the incident and will now miss the clashes with Montpellier and Clermont Auvergne after pleading guilty.

Watch every game of Top 14 Rugby streaming live on rugbypass.com, home of the best online rugby coverage including news, highlights, previews & reviews, live scores, and more!

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Comments on RugbyPass

G
GP 21 minutes ago
Five bold possible debutants for the All Blacks in 2026

Good to see Canterbury and Crusaders lock Jamie Hannah get mentioned. Great in the line outs and high work rate. Jamie also top ball skills as he showed in the NPC Final when he started the movement that led to Dallas McLeods try.

22 Go to comments
J
JW 2 hours ago
Rassie Erasmus loans 4 Springbok coaches to ailing URC outfit

Certainly here I think it is, but it must be very low value work, and across all teams. Getting stuck in utilizing skills etc will get much more value out of them.

5 Go to comments
J
JW 2 hours ago
Rassie Erasmus loans 4 Springbok coaches to ailing URC outfit

Great news, is it the first time then it’s been done?

Been saying that NZR needed to do similar with the Highlanders, mainly in terms of using it in a promotional way to lure players (smallest area of low local talent of all teams and have lacked quality in less recent players) to the area, by using some sort of formal national coaching application.



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5 Go to comments
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JW 2 hours ago
Five bold possible debutants for the All Blacks in 2026

Vice versa it’s amazing how good Ioane looks in those games before he got partnered with Jordie and/or struggled too long with Havili.

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JW 2 hours ago
Five bold possible debutants for the All Blacks in 2026

Neither of your too groups are the target of this article but I like those names. Caleb will make a ‘bold’ entrance, that’s for sure, really enjoy Numia and Flanders carrying too. What JRK is going to provide I don’t know but excited to see, with him first I just hope he can have more of the form he showed this year.

Haven’t seen enough of Roberts but I like his subtle game, not sure where Oli is going to fit in but jeeze what an exciting group!



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H
Hammer Head 5 hours ago
Rassie Erasmus loans 4 Springbok coaches to ailing URC outfit

He wasn’t the solution either

5 Go to comments
f
fl 6 hours ago
'He’s physical, he’s abrasive, very game-smart... England can’t ignore him'

Roots can feel incredibly hard done by by Borthwick. He got like 3 caps, was excellent, and then got permanently dropped. Given how many excellent flankers England have I can understand not picking Roots, but I can’t understand dropping him in the manner he was dropped. Fisilau definitely should be in and around the squad, but he’s going to have to do something really special to get close to the matchday 23.

2 Go to comments
F
FC 7 hours ago
Rassie Erasmus loans 4 Springbok coaches to ailing URC outfit

Ah, so Jake White WASN’T the problem after all….

5 Go to comments
u
unknown 7 hours ago
'He’s physical, he’s abrasive, very game-smart... England can’t ignore him'

Fisilau is definitely a future England back rower. At the moment, he’s benefitting hugely from playing alongside Ethan Roots (who’s probably the #1 forward in the Prem!) Fisilau AND Roots for England!!

2 Go to comments
A
Archibald 8 hours ago
Leinster player ratings vs Munster | 2025/26 URC

Reminder: Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COrcGb_ViJY&t=1634s.

At 27:22 in the video and 10:34 on the game clock, the commentator says “The other young up-and-comer Feinberg-Mngomezulu kicks at the best fullback in the world”



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cw 8 hours ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

Yes agree. They are a lesson in how to maximise potential.

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unknown 9 hours ago
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Exeter were robbed of a try bonus point by 2 terrible refereeing decisions. Nevertheless an excellent win!!

1 Go to comments
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NB 10 hours ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

True, but would you not agree that Eng have made more improvement since July 2024 than NZ?

333 Go to comments
S
SC 10 hours ago
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The Highlanders have a very weak set of props with the only exception being Ethan DeGroot. They will not advance to the semi-finals until they solve this issue which has seemed to plague them since Carl Hayman left in 2007.

Cam Millar needs to step up after two pretty mediocre Super Rugby seasons and prove he is more than just a very good NPC fly half.



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E
Eric Elwood 11 hours ago
Leinster player ratings vs Munster | 2025/26 URC

Solid win by Leinster. Tadhg Byrne said that this was one that got away from Munster but that is a very optimistic take. Leinster dominated for long sections and pinned Munster without landing the killer blow that the second try would have been. Munster defended and spoiled bravely but if Leinster go 14-0 the match was heading to a bonus point win.

The Premier Sports anchor was questioning Cullen the fact that Leinster were hammering teams at this time last year. But Cullen correctly pointed out that they were not. The equivalent match might have been Leinster’s squeeky win away to LaRochelle.



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c
cw 12 hours ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

Exactly my point - I am not the one saying NZ would lose - I am saying the margins are small and small changes could be significant.

333 Go to comments
T
Tommy B 12 hours ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

Oh, right, the ABs were missing a couple of players.

Presumably, England wouldn’t have benefitted from the presence of Chessum, Martin, Ben Curry, Daly, Furbank etc.



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333 Go to comments
R
RobOC25 12 hours ago
Leinster player ratings vs Munster | 2025/26 URC

Mangan was an unused sub and scores higher than kelleher who despite the lineout issues contributed to the early scrum dominants and was making plenty of dominant tackles?

If this was posted right after the game I would understand but it was posted an hour ago?



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Tommy B 12 hours ago
The coaching conundrum part one: Is there a crisis Down Under?

I was confident in 2019 for a number of reasons.

England should have won at Twickenham the previous year; Jones had been planning for the ABs for 3 years at least; they’d put 40 on Oz in the QF without breaking sweat; they’d were clearly peaking for this game; and I felt the two teams matched up well in England’s favour.



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333 Go to comments
f
fl 14 hours ago
Rassie Erasmus loans 4 Springbok coaches to ailing URC outfit

This seems great. It strikes me as odd that more national teams don’t do this - what are the coaches doing when it isn’t the international window? I guess there’s scouting & tactical analysis to be doing, but I doubt that’s a 5-day a week job.

5 Go to comments
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