Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth ban for 'intentional' foul play confirmed

Are you talking about throat sliting Ardie Savea?

To all the raging screen warriors take a break relax nobody cares about your diatribe

Way too harsh should be 4 weeks max

Very interesting that the starting point was mid-range.

The hate towards Eben is very much deep and clear on these comments….

“Hey kids, if you say afterwards that you didn’t mean it then you won’t get in too much trouble.”

“Oh, and never apologise, it makes you look more manly”

I was expecting 6 months, so 12 weeks is incredibly light.

He was guilty, he is banned. Stop your winging and get on with it. There have been times when players have transgressed, some have got more severe bans than others. It is the way it works and no amount of winging is going to change it. World rugby is not controlled by SA

Rugby. If you have so many conspiracy theories, build a bunker and get lost in it.

Should have got a year. Minimum. First Barnes hands them the RWC title, then Pearce in the third world, the. Carley in Dublin.

Those unmarked envelopes from the SARFU full of cash taken from the NH supporters are accepted by World Rugby to look the other way. Sad.

This shows that Rugby nowadays is controlled by the mafia of the top teams. If this offense were to have been done by Kremer, i.e., he would have been banned for a minimum of 6 months. What South Africa - Rasmus is proposing is not Rugby. This is a bench loaded with boxers and enforcers that can cost the lives of rugby players

It must be a joke…

Well, evidence if we need one that WR is corrupted by some federations, SA to not named it. When it’s a french, without evidence it’s 70. When it’s a SA with full evidence, it’s 12. Parody of justice.

That, the joke of the 1/4 against France and the 1/2 against England in 2023 at the world cup, 1995 again the WC against France and NZ, the AMA not being respected. Too much for me. It’s a shame. As a French I still remember 2011 (hello NZ fans), but these actions are shaming rugby much more. As usual.

Could have been worse. I don’t want to see this stuff in rugby.

One assumes that if Nelson Mandela had still be alive and given a character statement on Etzebeth, then he would have been given the freedom of the city of Cardiff whilst also being declared the patron saint of chancers.

You literally couldn’t make this s#/t up!!

Nice little summer holiday for Eben. Courtesy of yet another howler of a process.

I think WR is just into the entertainment factor of it all now. And the masses are indeed frothing over it.

Everything’s made up and the points don’t matter.

A french prop was banned 52 weeks for an eye-gouge few years ago. The main difference is that they were absolutely no evidence the prop did anything wrong (nothing on the footage, no injury), and he always denied it. Still banned much longer than a guy who purposely and with strenght put his thumb to the eye of his opponent and doesn't even has the face to admit it. The images are clear. Only hard core SA fans can support that decision. He should have been banned at the very least 50 weeks.

Feel sorry for the Sharks who had nothing to do with the incident yet suffer the consequences. Maybe missing international matches would be more appropriate.

Mike Tindall must be rubbing his hands in glee when World Rugby make decisions like this.

All of a sudden R360 now gets a whole bunch of credence & credibility!

Comedy. The Disciplinary hearings are a complete joke in terms of laxism. 8 weeks for the French girl biting at the W RWC. 33% of the sanction off for being a good boy after committing one of the worst offences in rugby. Didn’t admit guilt, yet gets given every leniency. And if we’re being honest, what does Ardie Savea have to do with anything? Screams of “we need someone with cachet to give us an excuse to give him as small a sentence as possible”

12 weeks off over summer? Cushty. I’m off to the beach & then I’ll be back for a Braai every day for the next 12 weeks!

If they’d banned him for life then Trumpty Dumpty could have given him refugee status.

“I did not, at any stage, aim for his eyes or intend to make contact with his eye,” said Etzebeth.

Right.

Let the whining commence!

Can it even be considered a ban if it only covers a dozen Micky Mouse Matches?

I think the full 18 would’ve been just. That thumb got right in there. If it wasn’t on a rugby field man would be facing some form of legal repercussions.

The picture of Etzebeth doing the Eye Gouge says a thousand words. Intentional prolonged eye gouge. There should have been no mitigation, no recognition of any alleged previous good behaviour. It should have been a career ending ban.

Just pathetically gutless by World Rugby & the new precedent has been set…

Strange if true. Doping is within the 1-2 year mark for a ban. An attempt to blind is considered 1/8th to 1/4 the level of offence?

Great for the big lad, less so for the sport’s integrity.

He must have pled guilty and apologised to Alex Mann - away from the view of cameras?

That’s not a total surprise and is a sensible length ban given this was his first red card in 141 International appearances.

It will be interesting to read the evidence when they upload the material (hasn’t been updated yet).