South Africa’s Eben Etzebeth handed 12-match ban for eye gouging

South Africa lock Eben Etzebeth has received a 12-match suspension for his eye gouge on Wales flanker Alex Mann, ruling him out until April.

Etzebeth, the most capped Springbok player of all time, received a permanent red card in his side’s 73-0 thumping of Wales in Cardiff last Saturday, with condemnation coming from all quarters and his own coach Rassie Erasmus admitting “it did not look good”.

The pair tussled late in the game among a melee of players, and Etzebeth was seen to make contact with the eye of Mann with his hand.

The independent disciplinary committee, chaired by Christopher Quinlan KC and also including former England internationals Leon Lloyd and Becky Essex, believed the action was intentional and warranted a mid-range entry point of 18 matches on the offences scale.

This was reduced by six matches due to the player’s disciplinary record and “some mitigating factors”, according to the panel.

“I did not, at any stage, aim for his eyes or intend to make contact with his eye,” Etzebeth was quoted as saying in the judgement released by the independent disciplinary committee.

“At this time I felt I had to start defending myself otherwise I’m going to be rag-dolled by [Mann],” Etzebeth added.

“It was at that time that I wanted to push him against the shoulder to try and get hold of him, so he doesn’t continue to have control of me and my jersey.

“There were lots of other players involved.

“South African #20 was behind the Welsh#7 and some of the Welsh players were between us.

“I made contact first with his shoulder. My hand went into his face. It was very quick and the slow-motion showed that I made contact with his eye.”

Etzebeth will miss the next 12 games for his Durban-based United Rugby Championship franchise the Sharks, and will be available again from April.

He will not miss any matches for the Springboks, who are not in action again until July.