Tigers' Kata may only miss 1 Premiership fixture despite 3-match ban

Leicester Tigers centre Solomone Kata has been banned for three matches following his red card against Northampton Saints on Saturday in the East Midlands Derby.

The 29-year-old was sent off by referee Christophe Ridley in the second half of the Gallagher Premiership encounter at Franklin's Gardens for a high tackle on Fraser Dingwall, as the Saints triumphed 40-17 against their rivals.

The Tonga international has since been banned for three matches for the tackle, but may only end up missing one Premiership encounter- against Bristol Bears on Saturday at Welford Road.

The second match of his ban is a friendly against Georgia's Black Lion on May 3, while the third match could be wiped clear if he applies to World Rugby to undertake the Coaching Intervention Programme (CIP).

The CIP is a bona fide way of reducing a ban by a week, but the fixture against Black Lion means Kata will only miss one competitive match, which could be decisive as they strive to make the play-offs.

Leicester only have three matches of the Premiership season remaining, against Bristol, Sale Sharks and Exeter Chiefs, and currently sit six points adrift of the top four. They will realistically need to be unbeaten in their final three matches to make the play-offs, and even then that may not be enough.

Having Kata available for two of those three matches, when it could have potentially been all three, will be a boost to Dan McKellar's side.

The red card itself had a major impact on the result of the match, as the Tigers were only trailing by a single point, 18-17, when Kata was dismissed on the hour mark. From then, the Premiership leaders scored 22 unanswered points in the space of 20 minutes, depriving Leicester of any form of bonus point, which could be crucial come the end of the season.