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Reckless.
Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth faced an independent disciplinary committee last night following his red card for eye-gouging Wales flanker Alex Mann last Saturday.
The towering lock was due to learn his fate this morning, but the final decision has now been delayed following a hearing that lasted over five hours.
The disciplinary panel failed to come to a collective agreement. It couldn’t conclude whether his actions were intentional or reckless, which means they could not agree on an appropriate punishment for the South African.
According to South African outlet Netwerk24, Etzebeth himself is said to have pleaded that his actions were reckless but “not intentional,” hence the failure to come to a decision on the length of his ban.
World Rugby guidelines state that the low-end entry point for ‘intentional contact with eye(s)’ is 12 weeks, while a mid-range sanction is 18 weeks.
A top-end sanction for a deliberate gouge is upwards of 24 weeks, while the maximum ban available is 208 weeks, or four years.
