Eddie Jones believes that Eben Etzebeth\u2019s ban fittingly didn\u2019t include any matches for the Springboks despite arguments that it should.<\/p>\n
The Springboks<\/a> lock was found guilty of intentionally eye-gouging Wales<\/a> flanker Alex Mann in the final international match of the year, which South Africa won 73-0.<\/p>\n While Etzebeth<\/a> argued that the action was accidental<\/a>, the independent disciplinary panel disagreed and handed down a 12-match ban to the second-rower, who will serve out the entirety of the suspension during the Sharks\u2019 Investec Champions Cup and United Rugby Championship campaigns.<\/p>\n Arguments against the ban, including club matches<\/p>\n Sky Sports New Zealand commentator Tony Johnson believes that this shouldn\u2019t be allowed and that sanctions should be applied at the level at which the offence has been committed, a notion that many fans and pundits agree with.<\/p>\n This is largely the case in football, with bans handed down in domestic competitions generally not applying at the international level and vice versa.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat player, yes, one of the great, physical, colossal forces in the game. But did he get off lightly, 12 weeks of club rugby for poking his thumb in a bloke\u2019s eye socket? He\u2019s not going to miss a beat of international stuff,\u201d Johnson said on Sport Nation Mornings with broadcaster Ian Smith.<\/p>\n \u201cThe break will probably bring him back even fitter and meaner for next year. There is a case here for something as bad as eye gouging that if you do the crime at top level, you do the time at top level.\u201d<\/p>\n Readers\u2019 Team of the Year: Will the Springboks dominate the pack again? Cast your vote!<\/a><\/p>\n Writing in the Telegraph, England great Brian Moore also weighed in on the debate.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can argue that bans should be enforced at the level of rugby in which the offence occurred, but if, hypothetically, Etzebeth does not play for South Africa again for some reason, he would escape with no sanction at all,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cIf this had happened in a club game and immediately before a World Cup, Etzebeth would be able to play in rugby\u2019s most important tournament, which would defy ordinary notions of justice.\u201d<\/p>\n England great \u2018almost as confused as everybody else\u2019 by World Rugby\u2019s disciplinary process after Eben Etzebeth ban<\/a><\/p>\n