What written judgement said about Alex Mann's role in gouging saga

Any theories that Eben Etzebeth was gouged by Wales’ Alex Mann appear to have been debunked after the Springbok’s hearing account was published.

The 34-year-old was handed a 12-week ban on Thursday, reduced from 18, for making intentional contact with the eye area of the Wales flanker in the final minutes or South Africa’s 73-0 win over Wales on Saturday, for which he was red carded.

However, in the wake of the incident, images were spread online suggesting Mann had made contact with Etzebeth’s eyes moments before the Bok legend saw red, literally and figuratively.

Many may have been expecting this to surface when the full details of the hearing were published on Thursday, however, there was no such mention of any alleged gouging by Mann.

Instead, Etzebeth’s statement only accused the Welshman of putting his hand in his face on the floor.

“We heard from the Player,” it was said in the verdict. “His account was consistent with his written statement. He alleged that W7 put a hand across his face on the floor. He did not allege that W7 touched his eyes, at any stage. During his account, he produced a new clip (not served before) from a ‘Spidercam’ which had a circle marked upon it showing he made contact first with W7 left shoulder before his head and eye.”

Mann, who did not attend the hearing as he was out of the country, provided his own statement, saying: ”…there was an altercation involving several players from both sides – I then felt a finger go into my eye followed by an open hand into my face. The South African number 19 apologised to me in the post match function.”

Despite there being a heated exchange of words between the two players moments after the match, Mann’s account does say that Etzebeth apologised in the post-match function.