There is no doubt that Jibulu is a promising hooker and, as Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson stressed, he will learn a valuable lesson from this “blip”. Many have tipped him to have a long and successful career in the game.
Jibulu has spoken of his ambitions to be capped at Test level, but having landed a six-week suspension he may have damaged his chances of being included in Steve Borthwick’s summer squad for the Nations Championship.
It is not uncommon for athletes to lose their cool in pressured situations or the heat of the battle – Sale and Harlequins were locked in an arm wrestle at the time of Jibulu’s offence – but players should know better. More to the point, it seems ludicrous that their age should be used as an extenuating circumstance and an ugly outcome like this risks setting a worrying precedent.