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United Rugby ChampionshipGwent DragonsScarlets

Watch - Tongan international throws hands with Lions back row

By Kim Ekin
Pleasantries are exchanged in the Welsh derby

It’s rare you see anything approaching actual punches being thrown in professional rugby these days but that’s exactly what Tongan No.8 Sione Kalamafoni provided URC fans with on Sunday night.

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The Scarlets forward was shown a red card after throwing two punches at Wales and British and Irish Lions backrower Ross Moriarty as the first half of their derby match with the Dragons came to an end at Parc y Scarlets.

The punches certainly didn’t come out of the ether in Llannelli.

There was a major altercation in the game between both teams kicked off when Scarlets’ second row Sam Lousi pushed Ashton Hewitt’s face into the ground after tackling him into touch. Hewitt reacted and then Kalamafoni hurled himself into the melee.

Moriarty then took hold of Kalamafoni and after a tussle, punches were thrown by the Tongan. Kalamafoni was sent off, while a smiling Moriarty received a yellow card for his part in the incident.

The Scarlets would have the last laugh however as they survived Kalamafoni’s sending off to bag a 33-17 victory over the Dragons in their Welsh derby.

Welsh URC derbies between the Scarlets and the Dragons are known for their feisty nature. These matches are always highly anticipated and fiercely contested, with both teams bringing a physical and aggressive style of play to the pitch. The Scarlets and Dragons have a long-standing rivalry, and, ging off this incident, there was no love lost between the two sides last night.

Scarlets: Leigh Halfpenny; Johnny McNicholl, Joe Roberts, Scott Williams, Steff Evans, Rhys Patchell, Dane Blacker; Kemsley Mathias, Ken Owens (CAPT), WillGriff John, Vaea Fifita, Sam Lousi, Aaron Shingler, Dan Davis, Sione Kalamafoni

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Replacements: Shaun Evans, Steff Thomas, Sam Wainwright, Morgan Jones, Carwyn Tuipulotu, Kieran Hardy, Dan Jones, Jonathan Davies

Dragons RFC: Angus O’Brien, Rio Dyer, Steff Hughes (CAPT), Jack Dixon, Ashton Hewitt, JJ Hanrahan, Lewis Jones, Aki Seiuli, Bradley Roberts, Chris Coleman, Joe Davies, George Nott, Aaron Wainwright, Taine Basham, Ross Moriarty

Replacements: Brodie Coghlan, Rob Evans, Luke Yendle, Matthew Screech, Ben Fry, Che Hope, Sam Davies, Sio Tomkinson

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Ardy 2 hours ago
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The VAR was established based on a false premise that the decisions would be correct. All that has happened is another referee with their own biases comes to a different opinion. We need to accept that the referee with assistants are the final arbiters of the game and only use a video review in the case of tries. Installing this level of review shows up the complexity and difficulty of getting decisions accurate at all times. It is a waste of time and money in a game with more stoppages than most, it is very frustrating to those watching the game and that is what it was supposed to fix.

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JD Kiwi 3 hours ago
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Bull Shark 7 hours ago
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RW 9 hours ago
There's only one answer to the Springboks' fly-half conundrum

Improve the the chat, block Turlough

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DP 9 hours ago
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Rob 10 hours ago
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Bull Shark 11 hours ago
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DG 13 hours ago
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RugbyAnalysis 13 hours ago
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Turlough 13 hours ago
There's only one answer to the Springboks' fly-half conundrum

I think SAs problem is one of arrogance. Their boasting and goading before the Irish series was a perfect example of it. Ebens blood covered face is a good reminder of where lack of humility gets you. Hopefully they can proceed with more honour and less arrogance from now on. Pollard kicked 100% versus Ireland and still lost. Change it now.

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MO 13 hours ago
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WR 13 hours ago
There's only one answer to the Springboks' fly-half conundrum

Tough one but I disagree. Putting Libbok in most matches will cost us. Especially against better teams. He just doesn't have what it takes. Aside from his kicking woes, he is a very good player. Pollard are the best option for tough games, but SFM is the best choice for me. He can do what both other players can do. He can play more positions than them. He is the best SA have now and will be for a very long time to come. We have an absolute super star like Kolbe, KLA and Moody in SFM. Time to get him in that 10 jersey and let him show case his absolute class. To let him grow and learn all he can from Tony Brown as we won't have TB for always. Most likely only until 2027. NZ will want him back. Time to cash in and go for broke. ML as an impact player might be a better option unless it's against a top 5 team, then best to have HP on the bench in case. That's not experience that can be chucked away. That would be stupid. We have WLR and DW at 15, HP and SFM at flyhalf. If anything, why not see how ML performs as a a scrum half? I know it's not his usual position, but he can be converted. You can't exchange what (in my personal opinion) is one of the best centre pairings currently in the world for ML or HP. That would be a disaster. No, we need HP at least on the bench playing top 5 in the WR.

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WR 14 hours ago
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Well, on X they claim they beat SA by 2-1 and won the series against SA. Nevermind that it's 2 different competitions with completely different players, and a completely different country. AGAIN, they think that talking about it and claiming it, that they are the winners. That they DESERVE IT. Yet, as per usual, they CHOKED AGAIN in the quarterfinals. The Boks had 2 good games. That's it. The French is a different story altogether. They know how to reach a final. 2 games to go for either Gold or Bronze. Good news that, but coming in 4th don't get medals, so the Boks have to get in the final to be assured of a medal. It won't be easy. Only teams that CAN play is still in the competition, not teams that thinks talking themselves into a medal will get them a medal. Fiji is now the favorites would be my guess, but anyone can take it from here. Good luck Boks!! As usual you have my full support💯

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Mzilikazi 14 hours ago
James Horwill: ''You can't tell me the code’s in trouble when you see every ticket's sold.'

Thanks , Brett. It will be a very powerful Lions team, but the WB’s will be stronger too, would be my feeling. I don’t see it being all one way traffic.

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StephenE 14 hours ago
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Bull Shark 14 hours ago
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WR 14 hours ago
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My comment disappeared

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