Springboks greats Nick Mallett and Schalk Burger have slammed the decision to red card Franco Mostert in the clash against Italy.
It’s the second time a Bok lock has been shown a permanent red card, with Mostert being sent off after Lood de Jager was dismissed against France last weekend in Paris.
Like De Jager, Mostert was judged to have always been illegal when making the tackle on Italy’s Paolo Garbisi, which removed all mitigation and meant that a red card was always going to be the final outcome.
Burger and Mallett slam red card decision
Speaking at half-time, Mallett and Burger slammed the decision, with the latter stating that referee James Doleman, his assistants Ben O’Keeffe and Jérémy Rozier, and TMO Tual Trainini fabricated events.
“More fiction is being written there than in Hollywood between the referees,” Burger said on SuperSport.
“‘Clear head contact’ said the TMO, there is no clear head contact – that’s mitigation.
“Player behaviour has changed, and that’s why we don’t have the head contact tackle that much anymore. Does Franco go low? Yes, he goes low. Why can’t he wrap with his right arm immediately? Because Morne van den Berg is there [editor’s note, he meant Ethan Hooker], no one talks like that (Burger gestures a hug), you lead with your shoulder and wrap afterwards.”
🟥 Franco Mostert’s red card.
Insane decision. #ITAvRSA pic.twitter.com/PskZt8S2hu
— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) November 15, 2025
Mallett agreed: “To come into support you there, in that clip that we see the hit, we see his head go back and we see the arm coming around to wrap in fact, that arm was the only that touched his chin.
“So it wasn’t direct contact to the head, it was indirect by his arm that was coming around to wrap. So to say that he hit him with an arm tucked being his shoulder, I think is a fabrication.
“I think that we should take away from the referee and the assistants the right to make a red card call that is so damaging to the game, it should be given to the TMO in the bunker to look at it and say it is a yellow card extended to a red card, and it gets adjudged by a disciplinary.”
Burger concluded the discussion, saying: “I agree, they are making that call on the spot, when it goes to the bunker – and I don’t know why they are going away from it, you’ve got eight minutes to sit and make that decision and go through all the angles in detail.
“They are looking at it on a big screen 70 metres away.”
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