SYDNEY (AP) — Fiji scrumhalf Simione Kuruvoli has been suspended for four weeks after being found guilty of physical abuse in his team’s 73-8 loss to England last weekend in a Nations Championship match at Liverpool.
A rugby disciplinary committee statement issued Thursday said the physical abuse, for which Kuruvoli received a red card, occurred in first-half stoppage time.
The committee determined that the act merited a potential eight-week suspension, but because Kuruvoli admitted to the foul play and had a previously good disciplinary record, it applied a 50% reduction in the sanction.
Kuruvoli will not be available to play in Fiji’s Nations Championship match on Saturday against Scotland at Murrayfield, or in three matches for his second-tier French club RC Vannes in September.
