A Tasman club rugby player has been banned from rugby for 45 weeks after a shoulder charge that left an opposing player with horrific injuries.
Osa Seuea broke three of Jordie Taylor's ribs, ruptured his spleen and almost split his kidney in half during a Marlborough second-division game last month.
While in hospital, Taylor suffered a collapsed lung, and he also got pneumonia.
The 22-year-old fisherman will be off work recovering from his injuries for six months and has been told he should not play rugby again.
Tasman rugby's judiciary committee said the shoulder charge was "wholly intentional" and "carried out with intent to injure".
The union's operations and competitions manager, Steve Mitchell, said he had never come across an injury like this before.
"Personally I'm happy with the level of punishment, I know there's others around who think it might be too hard or too light, personally I think it's a fair punishment for the incident."
The ban covers the rest of the rugby season.
