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Tigers' Kata may only miss 1 Premiership fixture despite 3-match ban


Solomone Kata/ PA
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Leicester Tigers centre Solomone Kata has been banned for three matches following his red card against Northampton Saints on Saturday in the East Midlands Derby.

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The 29-year-old was sent off by referee Christophe Ridley in the second half of the Gallagher Premiership encounter at Franklin’s Gardens for a high tackle on Fraser Dingwall, as the Saints triumphed 40-17 against their rivals.

The Tonga international has since been banned for three matches for the tackle, but may only end up missing one Premiership encounter- against Bristol Bears on Saturday at Welford Road.

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The second match of his ban is a friendly against Georgia’s Black Lion on May 3, while the third match could be wiped clear if he applies to World Rugby to undertake the Coaching Intervention Programme (CIP).

The CIP is a bona fide way of reducing a ban by a week, but the fixture against Black Lion means Kata will only miss one competitive match, which could be decisive as they strive to make the play-offs.

Fixture
Gallagher Premiership
Leicester
19 - 21
Full-time
Bristol
All Stats and Data

Leicester only have three matches of the Premiership season remaining, against Bristol, Sale Sharks and Exeter Chiefs, and currently sit six points adrift of the top four. They will realistically need to be unbeaten in their final three matches to make the play-offs, and even then that may not be enough.

Having Kata available for two of those three matches, when it could have potentially been all three, will be a boost to Dan McKellar’s side.

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The red card itself had a major impact on the result of the match, as the Tigers were only trailing by a single point, 18-17, when Kata was dismissed on the hour mark. From then, the Premiership leaders scored 22 unanswered points in the space of 20 minutes, depriving Leicester of any form of bonus point, which could be crucial come the end of the season.

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NoLongerARuck 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

The Six Nations produced so many compelling games and so much of action packed moments that you can only conclude that its the best international comp out there at the moment except for a world cup. If Wales improve it will be even better especially given the strides Italy have made in recent times. The Rugby Championship is now taking a hiatus in a year it really should be building toward something better which is terrible considering the competition was so tight last year. The Nations Champs promises much but one gets the feeling that the 6 Nations teams will not be at their peak given its at the end of their long season. In terms of rugby quality and entertainment Id rather watch the 6 Nations over everything else other than a world cup right now. The North arguably offers more in terms of entertainment than the South at club level as well. The Prem, the Champs Cup, URC and Top 14 all feature plenty of scoring and different playing styles while Super Rugby seems to be the same thing game in game out. While the South tries to speed up the game artificially with new trials and law variations the North has shown you can do it with good refereeing which penalises cynical play harshly and encourages positive actions on the field. In terms of entertainment the North wins. In terms of winning? They are making strides but until they win another world cup or get a team to rank number 1 again for an extended time again they cant really say they are better than the South.

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