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Wallaby Suliasi Vunivalu suspended after two trips in Reds’ loss to Drua
By Finn Morton
Queensland Reds and Wallabies winger Suliasi Vunivalu has been suspended from all forms of the game for one week after receiving a red card in last weekend’s loss to the Fijian Drua.
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Vunivalu was first shown a yellow card by referee Angus Gardner in the fifth minute after he tripped Drua flanker Kitione Salawa with his right leg.
The Reds winger was shown a second yellow card in the second half after referee Gardner consulted TMO Brett Cronan about another incident of potential four play.
Vunivalu was seen to have met the threshold for another yellow in the 45th minute which subsequently saw the player sent off for the remainder of the round 13 clash in Suva.
The SANZAAR Foul Play Review Committee (FPRC) has found Vunivalu guilty of going against Law 9.12 which stats that, “A player must not physically abuse anyone. Physical abuse includes, but is not limited to tripping.”
Vunivalu has been suspended from all forms of the game up to and including the 25th of May 2024.
The FPRC of Chairman Stephen Hardy, Ofisa Tonu’u and Stefan Terblanche assessed the incident. Hardy ruled as follows:
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“Having conducted a detailed review of all the available evidence, including all camera angles and additional evidence, including submissions by the player, the Foul Play Review Committee upheld the red card and found the player to have contravened Law 9.12.
“The FPRC assessed the player’s actions as including two separate foul play actions of tripping.
“The FPRC have found these actions as amounting to persistent offending under law 9.12, which warrants an entry point suspension of 2 weeks.
“The player was given a 50% discount for entering an early guilty plea (and other relevant mitigating factors including remorse and prior disciplinary record), reducing the suspension from 2 weeks to 1 week. The player is therefore suspended up to and including 25 May 2024.”
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Vunivalu will miss the Queensland Reds’ upcoming clash with the Western Force in Brisbane but will be available to return the following week against the NSW Waratahs in Sydney.