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Taulagi given five-week ban for dangerous tackle
By Matthew Scott
Sunwolves full-back Jamie-Jerry Taulagi has been slapped with a five-week ban after he was sent off in the Japanese franchise's 27-20 Super Rugby defeat to Chiefs on Saturday.
Replacement back Taulagi had helped the Sunwolves put late pressure on their hosts in Waikato with a penalty and conversion from Derek Carpenter's try.
However, the 23-year-old was shown a red card beyond the 80th minute after he joined a tackle on Chiefs' Shaun Stevenson and clumsily drove his shoulder into his opponent's head.
Taulagi was perhaps guilty of a lumbering attempt to play the ball as the Sunwolves desperately sought possession, and the player's "remorse, on field apology and early guilty plea" were factors in the punishment being reduced by two weeks.
Regardless, Taulagi will be out of action until June 10, ruling him out until the final three games of the regular season.
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i think Argentina v France could be a good game too, depending on which Argentina turns up. The most difficult to call is Scotland Australia.
Go to commentsSmith is playing a different game with the rest of the backs struggling to understand. That's the problem with so called playmakers, if nobody gets what they're doing then it often just leads to a turnover. It gets worse when Borthwick changes one of them, which is why they don't score points at the end. Sometimes having a brilliant playmaker can be problematic if a team cannot be built around them. Once again Borthwick seems lacking in either coaching or selection. I can't help but think it's the latter coupled with pressure to select the big name players.
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