DUBLIN (AP) — France hooker Peato Mauvaka was banned for three games on Thursday for his controversial head-first strike against Scotland in the Six Nations last weekend.
Mauvaka was yellow-carded for launching himself at scrumhalf Ben White while both were lying on the ground. The incident was deliberate and after the whistle. Referee Matthew Carley issued a yellow card and sent it to a bunker review. The bunker upheld the yellow and didn't upgrade to red — as many expected — because "the danger was not high."
The decision was kind to Mauvaka and France. Instead of losing a man for the last hour of the match on Saturday at Stade de France, the French were inconvenienced for only 10 minutes.