South Africa lock Eben Etzebeth was sent off for an eye gouge as the veteran’s ugly act marred a record Springboks win against Wales in Cardiff.
A 73-0 defeat was the hosts’ heaviest in history on home soil, with the world champions in impressive form in running in 11 tries against an under-strength Wales unable to pick their foreign-based players.
But another one-sided victory for Rassie Erasmus’s men was spoiled at the last after Etzebeth appeared to direct a thumb into the eye of Alex Mann, the Wales flanker.
The pair came together as a scuffle sparked just a couple of minutes from time with South Africa long since secure of victory.
After reviewing the footage in consultation with television match official Eric Gauzins, referee Luc Ramos produced a permanent red card, deeming that Etzebeth’s act had been intentional.
Under World Rugby’s sanctioning guidelines, Etzebeth now faces a long ban. The low-end entry point for “intentional contact with the eye” is 12 weeks, with a top-end sanction of upwards of 24 weeks. The maximum ban a player can receive is 208 weeks, or four years, although that is unlikely.
Etzebeth is the third South Africa lock shown a straight red card this November. Lood de Jager was dismissed in the win over France and subsequently given a four-match ban, reduced to three after completing “tackle school”, while Franco Mostert’s sending off against Italy was overturned by a disciplinary committee.
Etzebeth, winning his 141st cap, had been introduced in the 52nd minute in Cardiff as Rassie Erasmus brought on all eight of his replacements at once. The 34-year-old scored one of South Africa’s 11 tries before seeing red.
“I’m sure he didn’t mean to do that on purpose and I don’t want that to be the highlight of the game,” Springboks captain Siya Kolisi told TNT Sports of the incident.
“The only way a team can get better is play the best, so next year after facing this they will be better. The Wales people are fighting people and we’ve been through this too after 2015, so it can get better.”
South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus added in his post-match press conference: “I don’t know what I can say that won’t be controversial. It didn’t look good. It justified the red card. How it happened and why it happened, whether it was provoked, I’m not sure. But the optics were correct.”
