Scarlets No. 8 Sione Kalamafoni has been hit with a two-match ban after being sent off for punching Ross Moriarty during their New Year's Day victory over the Dragons.
The Tonga international will miss the upcoming matches against Cardiff and the Cheetahs after striking the Wales international after Moriarty had pulled Kalamafoni's scrum cap off from behind. The incident occured after players from both sides came together during the United Rugby Championship clash, with referee Ben Whitehouse showing Moriarty a yellow card for his part in the fracas as well.
Whitehouse, after speaking to his TMO, told the respective players: "We've got players holding, you've [Kalamafoni] run in from nowhere and started it and made it a lot worse. You [Moriarty] have grabbed him by the skull cap and pulled him out. It's a yellow card for you, off you go. You've [Kalamafoni] thrown a punch and landed, red card, off you go."
The statement from the URC disciplinary panel stated that Kalamafoni had accepted he had committed an act of foul play which warranted a red card. However, they added that it was with minimal force and was in retaliation to "highly provocative and potentially dangerous actions by Dragons No 8".
As such, it was decided that a mid-entry punishment - which would have been a six-week ban - would have been disproportionate. A low entry of two weeks was decided upon, with Kalamafoni's previous disciplinary record being given as the reason for no mitigation being offered.
Intriguingly, the graphic used by the URC to show the disciplinary process indicated that the act was not deemed as 'intentional'.
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