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Fiji’s Simione Kuruvoli was handed a rare permanent red card by referee Hollie Davidson after kicking out at England’s Ellis Genge during the Nations Championship clash with England on Saturday.
Davidson gave the scrum-half his marching orders on the stroke of half-time, after a lengthy consultation with her assistants and TMO Mike Adamson.
The move came shortly after Kalaveti Ravouvou had gone over for what would have been Fiji’s first try of the game, with Caleb Muntz even adding the extras.
However, things took a turn when Genge complained he’d been kicked by the Fijian number nine.
A subsequent TMO review showed he had a point.
You can watch the incident in the clip below.
Replays showed Genge had briefly held the scrum-half after a tackle, but had then fully let go of Kuruvoli.
However, the Fijian still reacted by kicking back strongly into Genge’s chest.
Davidson was keen to establish whether Kuruvoli had still been held, which had it been the case would have been seen as an aggravating factor in the incident and resulted in a more lenient punishment.
However, after establishing what had happened, the Scottish official had no hesitation.
Explaining her decision, she said: “We see a tackle taking place. We then have no evidence at all that he is holding on to you.
“His hands are in the air.
“You then choose, deliberately, to kick out and hit him.
“Therefore it’s a permanent red card.”
ITV viewers had few complaints with the decision with many slamming Kuruvoli’s actions as “madness”, “reckless” and “brainless”
