Solomone Kata barred from Premiership until December after red card

Leicester Tigers centre Solomone Kata has been handed a four-week ban following his red card in the opening match of the Gallagher Premiership season on Saturday against his former side Exeter Chiefs.

Referee Tom Foley sent the former rugby league star off on 72 minutes at Sandy Park for making head-on-head contact with Chiefs hooker Jack Yeandle- his second red card in four Premiership matches.

After a hearing before an independent disciplinary panel, the red card was upheld and a four-week ban was given to the 29-year-old, which cannot be reduced as he has already partaken in tackle school (which a player can only attend once).

Leicester's fixture against Bath has not been included in the four-match ban as Kata is unavailable for the match through injury. The ban will therefore begin the following week, meaning he will miss fixtures against Newcastle Falcons, Northampton Saints, Gloucester and Saracens.

The panel adjudged the offence warranted a mid-range entry point, which carries a six-week ban, though that was reduced by two weeks as Kata accepted that he had committed foul play at the earliest opportunity on receipt of the papers, he conducted himself in exemplary fashion before and during the hearing and that he apologised immediately after the match.

With the Premiership taking a break for a month after Leicester's contest with Saracens, the next time the Tonga international can feature in the league will be the clash with Sale Sharks on December 1 at the Salford Community Stadium.

The Tigers were trailing 14-10 when Kata was dismissed, and their chances of earning a victory looked very slim when they were reduced to 14 men. But a yellow for Exeter's Will Haydon-Wood soon after meant the numbers were even for the final minutes of the match, as the visitors were able to snatch victory at the death through a Tommy Reffell try.

An RFU statement reads: "He was shown a red card for dangerous tackling, contrary to World Rugby Law 9.13, during a game against Exeter Chiefs on 21 September 2024.

"The player challenged the red card threshold, but the panel upheld the red card and suspended Kata for four matches. The player cannot take part in the Coaching Intervention Programme due to already having completed the course in April of this year.

"Due to the player not being available for selection for the fixture against Bath Rugby on 29 September because of injury, this will not be included in the suspended matches."

Yeandle provided his version of events at the hearing, saying the initial contact was shoulder-on-shoulder, though admitting contact was made with his head.

"The initial contact was definitely on my shoulder," he said. "And in no way, shape or form do I think it was malicious and going with any nasty intent."

While he admitted that it was an upright tackle, Kata echoed Yeandle's view and said that the reason he looked dazed after returning to his feet was due to a cramp in his calf rather than a head injury, highlighting that he did indeed pass two Head Injury Assessments.

The final decision from the hearing stated: "This was a reckless tackle, the act of foul play being caused by the player failing to reduce his height sufficiently so as to avoid making head contact. The level of danger was high and the panel agreed with the Referee's on-field assessment in finding that there was no basis on which to mitigate down from a red card."