It was inept, not malicious. I really think it was a determined lunge having fouled up his possession, and he wanted to make amends with a good firm tackle. The fact that he executed it pretty badly deserved a yellow and a talking to if it was a decent ref, not one who gets turned on by big moment incidents in games. But a 5 games ban seems way over the top to me, almost as if they are justifying what they now think was harsh. Guess I'm on my own with this one.