There was once again outrage and anger among Springbok supporters this past weekend when Franco Mostert was shown a straight red card for a ‘high tackle’ against Italy.
Replays clearly showed that Mostert was dipping in height and first made contact with the chest/shoulder of Italian flyhalf Paolo Garbisi, and with very little indication the tackle was ‘always illegal’, those mitigating circumstances should have come into consideration.
Ultimately, it seems that sanity has belatedly prevailed, with Netwerk24 reporting that a disciplinary committee found that the match officials had indeed made an error in issuing the straight red card.
Mostert red card reduced
According to the report, Mostert’s red card has now effectively been downgraded to a yellow, and he could actually be considered for selection for this Saturday’s Test against Ireland.
An official statement on the disciplinary outcome still needs to be released by the Quilter Nations Series, but this could be some very good news for the Springboks and Mostert himself.
Springboks haven’t stayed silent on the matter
Earlier in the week, assistant coach Mzwandile Stick said they were searching for clarity on these inconsistent decisions.
“From our side as coaches, we still need to work hard. We can see that these guys are nice and tall and they try to do everything by the book but because rugby is a physical game we don’t always get it perfect. But for them to say the tackle was never legal, is disappointing.
“Looking at the Fiji and France game and the cleanouts that were there, same with Ireland-Australia situations that were even worse than what those guys have been suspended for. They are suspended but other players will come back again this week. Surely somewhere, somehow, this is not fair. I don’t think we deserve this as a team. Are we treated fairly? I don’t think so.”
