Three-week suspension for Tevita Kuridrani

The Western Force were dealt a blow ahead of Saturday’s Super Rugby AU semi-final against the Brumbies in Canberra after former Wallabies centre Tevita Kuridrani received a three-week suspension from SANZAAR.

The 30-year-old was yellow carded for a tip tackle on Reds centre Hunter Paisami in the first minute of the Force’s 30-27 victory in Perth on Saturday.

However, SANZAAR’s foul play review committee ruled that Kuridrani’s tackle met the red card threshold and issued him with a suspension that rules him out of the Super Rugby AU finals series and the start of Super Rugby trans-Tasman competition.

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The judiciary “determined that the act of foul play merited a low end entry point of six weeks,” said a SANZAAR statement.

“This was primarily due to the reckless rather than intentional nature of the action which ultimately placed Kuridrani’s opponent in a vulnerable position but which did not cause an injury to the opponent.

“When taking into account mitigating factors including the player’s relatively good judicial record over a long career and the fact the player pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity, the foul play review committee reduced his suspension to three weeks.”