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On Saturday Tomás Lavanini set a new Pumas record for the most number of yellow cards. His first half yellow carding against New Zealand brought his overall record to 6 for Argentina. No Pumas player has received more temporary suspensions in history.
The concerning high number of yellow cards comes at the worst possible time. Argentina is on a horrendous losing streak. The South Americans have lost all five of their matches in the Rugby Championship thus far and play host to Australia this coming Saturday.
The involvement of Lavanini remains undetermined. But what is undeniable is that he is now officially Argentina’s Bad Boy. In selected to start against New Zealand, Lavanini replaced Matías Alemanno, a player to have made notable progress since Rugby World Cup 2015.
Lavanini missed out on the Oceania Tour which saw Alemanno and Guido Petti being the starting combination. Marcos Kremer provided cover from the bench. Both Alemanno and Petti are carrying minor injuries at present, a complication ahead of facing the Wallabies.
The latest yellow card has seen increased calls for Lavanini’s career to be put on hold. His naming in the team against New Zealand was after a two match stand-down period. Despite this his return saw him again being yellow carded. As such he has three yellow cards from the past two matches.
Lavanini made his test debut against Uruguay in 2013. Later that year he would make his first appearance in the Rugby Championship. The change from Santiago Phelan to Daniel Hourcade saw Lavanini becoming a permanent fixture in Los Pumas.
His first yellow card came in his 21st appearance. It was for a no-arms clean-out against South Africa in Buenos Aires. His second yellow card was for a similar offense. It sparked plenty of debate due to it having been in a Rugby World Cup Semi Final.
In between the first and second offense, Lavanini narrowly missed out on being yellow carded for a no-arms tackle on Sione Piukala of Tonga. He would be cleared by the referee and was not cited. The previous year he had been suspended after being cited for a no-arms clean-out against New Zealand.
Since Rugby World Cup 2015 Lavanini has earned eight caps. He has an appalling ratio of four yellow cards from these games. The first was for kneeing Loann Goujon following his try in Tucumán. That had, notably been hist first game back after having been suspended following a red card in Super Rugby.
In 2017 he did not impress English supporters who deemed his tackle on Nathan Hughes in Santa Fé to have been a clear yellow card. It was just a penalty. Two caps later and he would pick up two. The first was for a no-arms tackle and the second for a deliberate knock-on. This resulted in him being red carded. During his next cap he received his 6th yellow card. It was his fourth for not using his arms.
| DATE | FIXTURE | CAP NO | OFFENSE | VENUE |
| September 30 2017 | Argentina vs New Zealand | 35 | No-arms tackle | Buenos Aires |
| August 26 2017 | Argentina vs South Africa | 34 | Deliberate Knock-on | Salta |
| August 26 2017 | Argentina vs South Africa | 34 | No-arms tackle | Salta |
| June 25 2016 | Argentina vs France | 28 | Kneeing opponent | Tucumán |
| October 25 2015 | Australia vs Argentina | 26 | No-arms tackle | London |
| August 15 2015 | Argentina vs South Africa | 21 | No-arms clean-out | Buenos Aires |
