The Reds will be without Suliasi Vunivalu for their penultimate Super Rugby Pacific home game against the Western Force after being dished a one-match ban.
Vunivalu was dealt back-to-back yellow cards for tripping in the Reds’ latest match against the Fijian Drua in Suva.
The former Melbourne Storm player was given a red card as a result and SANZAAR deemed the offence warranted a week off.
Watch all the action from the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season with every match ad free, live and and on demand on Stan Sport
The Foul Play Review Committee (FPRC) found Vunivalu had contravened law 9.12, which states, “A player must not physically abuse anyone. Physical abuse includes, but is not limited to tripping.”
FPRC chairman Stephen Hardy ruled, “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 two weeks.”
READ MORE: Former UFC star dead at 33 after motorbike crash
READ MORE: Texts reveal how Arthur was ‘blindsided’ by Eels
READ MORE: Controversial diet fuelling Foxx’s Origin push
“The player was given a 50 per cent discount for entering an early guilty plea (and other relevant mitigating factors including remorse and prior disciplinary record), reducing the suspension from two weeks to one week.”
It’s a tough pill to swallow for the Wallabies winger.
With a wealth of options, a week on the sidelines could be a bitter blow for Vunivalu’s hopes of being selected by Joe Schmidt for the upcoming July series against Wales and Georgia.