Kenya Harlequins’ winger Eric Shikuku has been suspended for five weeks for a red card he received in an Eric Shirley Shield game against Impala Saracens II. The red card was awarded during the Ngong Road derby staged at Impala grounds on January 28. The referee issued the ban for the offense in line with rule 10.4 (a).
“In the first half of play, 20 minutes into the game, player number 15 (Erick Shikuku) of Kenya Harlequins was tackled by Impala Saracens’ player number 13 after the referee had blown the whistle to signal a 22m drop out in favor of Harlequins. While the tackler retreated, the tackled player (Erick Shikuku), ran up behind him and struck him with his fist at the back of his head.”
He added: “The video of the incident was replayed and the Kenya Harlequins’ player (Erick Shikuku)’s action demonstrated unbridled aggression blatantly in breach of the rule 10.4 (a) by attacking the Impala player, who subsequently fell to the ground. The late tackle notwithstanding, the player had no grounds to attack his tackler, more so while he was retreating following the whistle to reset play by the referee.”
“The sanction for the player is to serve a medium range suspension of 5 weeks from rugby. This will be effective in the active rugby season and will include time already spent in suspension,” the ruling concluded.
Shikuku already missed the match against Western Bulls last weekend and the earliest he will return will be on March 11. Shikuku is the second Quins’ player to serve a ban after flanker Peter Misango was sent off in the Kenya Cup match against Homeboyz last month.
Also suspended is Mean Machine, player Reuben Oroko, who has been handed a four-week ban for a red card he received during a Kenya Cup game against KCB last month.
The red card is as a result of contravening rule 10.4, where according to the judicial report, the player number 18 (Reuben Oroko) of Mean Machine tackled a KCB player by lifting him off the ground and drove him head first onto the ground in a ‘spear tackle’.
The sanction for the player is to serve the low end suspension of 4 weeks from rugby. He has already missed matches against Impala and Mwamba and will also miss fixtures against Homeboyz, and Blak Blad.