Taione banned for 18 weeks

Sale winger Epi Taione has been banned for 18 weeks after he pleaded guilty to biting Munster and Ireland number eight Denis Leamy.

Taione was cited after Sale’s Heineken Cup defeat to Munster on January 21 and appeared before an independent disciplinary committee in London today.

The panel heard submissions from both Heineken Cup organisers European Rugby Cup and Taione before ruling the appropriate entry-point for sanctions was a six-month ban.

After considering “various compelling mitigating factors” Taione was slapped with an 18-week suspension.

He will miss the rest of this season and will not be free to play again until Monday, June 12.