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Ardie Savea (left) was shown a yellow for his role in a melee during the first half and made the gesture as he walked off the fieldWellington Hurricanes captain Ardie Savea has been banned for one week for making a throat-slitting gesture at an opponent during Friday's Super Rugby match against Melbourne Rebels.
All Blacks forward was heading to the sin bin after being yellow carded when he made the gesture at Ryan Louwrens.
He apologised after the game, saying the gesture was "out of character".
A foul play committee said the incident deserved a warning and combined with the yellow card, merited a week's ban.
It means Savea, who has 70 international caps, will miss the Hurricanes' home game against Auckland Blues on Saturday.
Speaking after the game, which the Hurricanes won 39-33, Savea admitted he had set a poor example.
"I can understand the fans are furious around the gesture that I made," he told Stan Sports.
"Kids are watching us, we're in the heat of the moment. Usually that's out of character for me, so I put my hand up first and I apologise for that.
"We're trying to clean up the game. I understand, there's no excuse for me, I've got to be better."
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