Ex-All Black is off to tackle school at the age of 33 after admitting ‘foul play which warranted a red card’
Malakai Fekitoa with the All Blacks and, inset, at Benetton
Ex-All Black Malakai Fekitoa will have to resort to tackle school – at the age of 33 – if he is to play some part with Tonga in their November series.
The 2015 Rugby World Cup winner, who ended his 24-cap New Zealand career in 2017, has been lining out for the country of his birth in recent years, including appearances at Rugby World Cup 2023.
Having exited Munster following other northern hemisphere stints with Toulon and Wasps, the midfielder is now in his third season at Italian side Benetton, and a recent club trip to Scotland resulted in next month’s return visit there with Tonga getting placed in jeopardy.
Benetton were hammered 0-43 at Edinburgh in the United Rugby Championship, and the defeat had a disciplinary sequel after Fekitoa was cited for an early second-half incident initially deemed worthy of a six-match ban.
‘Good record, remorse and exemplary conduct…’
This suggested punishment was halved to three games due to mitigation, and Fekitoa was then handed a further lifeline with the opportunity to attend tackle school which, if completed, would free him for Tonga versus Scotland on November 23.
That would limit his ban to just two matches, last weekend’s Benetton loss to the Stormers and the November 15 meeting between the Scotland Emerging XV and Tonga.
A statement read: “The disciplinary process related to Malakai Fekitoa citing in the BKT United Rugby Championship round four game against Edinburgh Rugby on October 17 has resulted in a three-game suspension.
“The citing commissioner in charge reported Benetton player No.12 (Malakai Fekitoa) for an act of foul play in the 43rd minute under law 9.13 – a player must not tackle an opponent early, late or dangerously.
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“In the player’s response to the panel overseeing the disciplinary process, Ben Rutherford (chair, Ireland), Neil Snellenburg (SC, South Africa) and Stefan Terblanche (South Africa), he accepted that he had committed an act of foul play which warranted a red card.
“The panel found the incident met the red card threshold, with an entry point of mid-range warranting a six-game suspension.
“The player received three weeks (50 per cent) mitigation due to his good record, remorse and exemplary conduct throughout the disciplinary process, which results in a three-game suspension.
“Should the player complete the World Rugby coaching intervention programme, then the sanction will be reduced by one week.”
The incident in Edinburgh wasn’t the first time that Fekitoa was punished after a citing was deemed to be a red card offence missed in a match.
It was 2016, when Ireland took on the All Blacks in a Dublin rematch just weeks after they had beaten them in Chicago, when referee Jaco Peyper decided that a high tackle from Fekitoa on Simon Zebo only merited a yellow card.
At a disciplinary hearing some days later, it was found that the two-try Fekitoa should have been sent off for an “action that warranted a red card”. He was banned for the following weekend’s tour-ending match against France.