Vaea Fifita suspended for four weeks

Scarlets forward Vaea Fifita will be out of action for a month following his four-week suspension for a red card against Cardiff. 

Fifita was red-carded for a dangerous clearout on Shane Lewis-Hughes as Scarlets fell to a 16-10 defeat.

The Tongan international has now been suspended for four weeks for his actions and will miss Scarlets' matches against Zebre, Connacht and Leinster. He will also miss Tonga's test against Spain if he fails to complete the World Rugby Coaching Intervention Programme.

The United Rugby Championship confirmed the news with the following statement:

The Disciplinary process related to Vaea Fifita (Scarlets) Red Card in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship Round 4 game against Cardiff Rugby on Saturday, October 8 2022 has resulted in an four-week ban.

After an act of foul play against Cardiff Rugby player No 20 (Shane Lewis-Hughes), referee Adam Jones showed the Player a Red Card in the 77th minute of the game under Law 9.13 – A player must not tackle an opponent early, late or dangerously. Dangerous tackling includes, but is not limited to, tackling or attempting to tackle an opponent above the line of the shoulders even if the tackle starts below the line of the shoulders.

In the Player’s responses to the Judicial Officer overseeing the disciplinary process (Andrea Caranci, Italy), he had accepted that he had committed an act of foul play which warranted a Red Card. Mr. Caranci found that the incident met the Red Card threshold, with entry of mid-range warranting six weeks. The Player received 2 weeks mitigation due to his good record which results in a four game suspension.

Should the Player complete the World Rugby Coaching Intervention Programme then the sanction will be reduced by one week.

Fixtures Vaea Fifita is unavailable for:

Scarlets v Zebre Parma 15 October 2022, Vodacom URC

Connacht v Scarlets 21 October 2022, Vodacom URC

Scarlets v Leinster 28 October 2022, Vodacom URC

Spain v Tonga 5 November 2022, International