Eben Etzebeth faces the prospect of one of the most severe disciplinary sanctions of his career after a clear act of eye contact on Wales flanker Alex Mann brought a chaotic and deeply uncomfortable end to South Africa’s 73–0 victory in Cardiff.
The gouge - captured unambiguously on broadcast cameras as players grappled in midfield during the closing minutes - transformed what had been an 11-try exhibition into a test of rugby’s tolerance for serious foul play.
The flashpoint erupted in the 79th minute at the Principality Stadium, when both forward packs converged in an outbreak of shoving and jersey-scrapping after a passage of loose play.
As bodies came together, Etzebeth could be seen driving his thumb into Mann’s eye area - a deliberate movement wholly detached from the scuffle’s momentum and one that immediately drew anger from the Welsh players surrounding him.
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Mann recoiled in fury, teammates reacted, and referee Mathieu Raynal had no hesitation in issuing a straight red card.
The act was all the more shocking given Etzebeth’s standing in the game: South Africa’s most-capped player, a double World Cup winner and for more than a decade one of the sport’s most respected enforcers.
Instead of ending the match widely praised for his leadership from the bench, he now faces a disciplinary process that could remove him from the international stage for months.
South Africa winning by 73 points and Etzebeth out gouging players.
— Jim Demps (@jim_demps) November 29, 2025
Absolute scum bag. Ban him and ban him for the year. pic.twitter.com/TgV0tLi7eS
Under World Rugby’s sanctioning guidelines, the minimum entry point for deliberate contact with the eye area is 12 weeks.
A reckless act begins at 18; intentional eye gouging at 24.
With the upper range stretching to four years, Etzebeth’s fate will depend entirely on how the panel interprets his actions during that moment of confrontation.
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| PARassie Erasmus, South Africa’s director of rugby, accepted the gravity of the offence.
“It didn’t look good. It was a justified red card,” he told the Daily Mail. “It’s definitely not the way we’d have liked to have ended the game. The optics weren’t great.”
His comments stood in stark contrast to the glowing praise normally reserved for a player of Etzebeth’s stature.
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, however, offered a partial defence.
“I’m sure he didn’t mean to do that,” Kolisi said. “If you go for an eye gouge you know what happens. He apologised to the guy (Mann) already.”
The interpretation of intent - whether accidental, reckless, or deliberate - will be the central question of the disciplinary hearing and will dictate whether Etzebeth misses weeks or months of rugby.
Wales suffered a record 73-0 thumping to South Africa as Welsh rugby ended a miserable year with further humiliation in Cardiff | PAFor Wales head coach Steve Tandy, the visuals spoke for themselves.
“I’m not going to comment in detail,” he said diplomatically. “You can see something. If it is what it is, it’s not a great look.”
Until the incident, South Africa had produced one of the most emphatic displays of their modern era, overwhelming Wales with a relentless blend of power, precision and pace.
But the scoreboard — 11 tries and a record 73-point margin — was rendered almost secondary in the final minutes.
Instead, discussion in the stadium and online was dominated by Etzebeth’s action, the likely length of the ban and the impact on his illustrious reputation.