Fijian Drua head coach Nick Byrne yesterday said that suspended halfback Frank Lomani is likely to play in their last match next month.

“I think he is six weeks is up for the last game,” Bryne said.

“He has been training with the team and going on well.”

The Fijian Drua after Queensland this Saturday have another two matches against Highlanders in Dunedin on Sunday, May 26 and then hosts Rebels at Churchill Park, Lautoka on Saturday, June 1.

Lomani was slapped with a six-week ban for his elbow strike on the back of Rebels’ Josh Canham’s head.

The incident happened during the Drua’s match with the Melbourne Rebels on Friday night (April 5) at AAMI Park.

The Rebels won the match 41-20 after being down 20-8 at halftime.

Despite Canham wearing headgear, the strike was powerful enough to leave the lock visibly bleeding post-match. Elbow strikes to the back of the head are considered to be so dangerous they are banned in the United Football Championship (UFC).

The case was referred to Super Rugby’s Foul Play Review Committee, where it was assessed as a top-end offence under law 9.12.

“The entry point for the offence was 10 weeks (assessed as top-end range for intentional and deliberate physical abuse of striking with an elbow to the back of the victim player’s head and causing injury, where the victim player was in an incredibly vulnerable position with limited ability, if any, to defend himself),” Foul Play Review Committee (FPRC) chairman Stephen Hardy ruled.

“The player was given a discount for entering an early guilty plea (and other relevant mitigating factors), reducing the suspension from 10 weeks to six weeks. The player is therefore suspended up to and including May 26, 2024.”

Lomani was shown a straight red card by referee Damon Murphy for that incident.

In his absence Peni Matawalu and Simione Kuruvoli have been filling in for him.

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