South Africa’s record demolition of Wales ended under a cloud as Eben Etzebeth was sent off in the final seconds for a clear thumb to the eye of Alex Mann, with Rassie Erasmus conceding afterwards that the footage “didn’t look good” despite uncertainty over what sparked the clash.
The Springboks had cruised to an 11-try victory in Cardiff before tempers flared at the death, Mann squaring up to Etzebeth after the replay screens inside the Principality Stadium showed the veteran lock’s thumb making contact with his eye.
Referee Luc Ramos issued a straight red, and the two forwards exchanged words again in an icy post-match handshake picked up by the TNT cameras.
Erasmus didn’t attempt to soften the optics.
“I don’t know what I can say that isn’t controversial. It didn’t look good.
“It was a justified red card. It’s definitely not the way we’d have liked to have ended the game. The optics weren’t great.”
The incident overshadowed what had been a ruthless South African showing, their physical dominance exposing a Welsh side running on fumes by the final quarter.
But the image that lingered after the one-sided affair was Mann’s fury and Etzebeth trudging off to another blast of boos from the home crowd.
Wales coach Steve Tandy offered little in return. “I’m not going to comment in detail. You can see something. If it is what it is, it’s not a great look,” he said, stopping short of passing judgement while acknowledging the seriousness of the contact.
Springboks captain Siya Kolisi attempted to contextualise the moment, insisting there was no intent from his teammate. “I’m sure he didn’t mean to do that on purpose,” said Kolisi. “You go for an eye gouge, you know what happens after that. We said sorry to the guy already but I don’t want that to be the highlight of the day, it’s been a good day.”
The studio discussion was more direct, although both Welsh pundits said they’d be surprised if there was intent from the giant Springbok enforcer.
Sam Warburton echoed Kolisi’s belief that Etzebeth wouldn’t deliberately jeopardise himself in a match already long won, but he drew a hard line on the offence. “Yeah, without a doubt,” he said when asked about the likelihood of a ban. “It’s one of those that is a non-negotiable. I kind of understand what Siya is saying, because Etzebeth is 34 years old, he’s got over 100 caps and he’s played the game a million times. He knows you can’t do that, so I don’t know if it was his intention. But, intention or not, any finger contact into the eye is straight red and nobody can argue that.”
Dan Biggar came to a similar conclusion. “I agree with Sam. There’s no way he’s intentionally gone to do that, especially with the score as it is,” he said. “There’s no real need to have any niggle in the game almost, but he’s probably going to find himself in a little bit of bother and having a few weeks on the sidelines.”