The eye gouge incident that saw Eben Etzebeth red-carded late in the game has been a major talking point ever since last Saturday’s Test between the Springboks and Wales, and which certainly took the gloss of a dominant performance.
Etzebeth is now set to face a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday afternoon, with the verdict expected to be communicated on Wednesday morning.
There is no doubt that the towering lock will face a lengthy suspension, but it now just remains to be seen how World Rugby views the indiscretion.
What fate awaits Eben Etzebeth?
If it’s decided that Etzebeth made “intentional contact with eye(s)”, then World Rugby guidelines state that the low-end entry point for this act will result in a ban of 12 weeks, while a mid-range sanction is 18 weeks. A high-end sanction for a deliberate act is upwards of 24 weeks, but some mitigating circumstances could come into play.
However, if the Springbok lock’s incident is deemed to have been reckless rather than intentional, the low-end range would result in a ban of four weeks, mid-range would be eight weeks, and top-end would be 12 weeks or more.
Sharks to suffer
Whatever the case may be, Etzebeth is almost certain to now miss a large portion of the Sharks’ season.
SA Rugby and MyPlayers, the players’ association, are set to represent Etzebeth at the hearing, and will likely make the case that he was reacting to a ‘provocation’ of sorts when he was seen to be in a scuffle at a previous breakdown.
He may also benefit from another key mitigating factor, which is the fact that this is his first red card in 141 Test matches since his debut in 2012.
