Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has spoken out against his lock and Test veteran Eben Etzebeth who was shown a red card for an eye-gouge late in the game against Wales in Cardiff last night.

The No 4 lock, who came off the bench in the 50th minute in the Boks’ 73-0 win against Wales at the Principality Stadium, got involved in a scuffle with one or more Welsh players late in the game, reports The Citizen.

Following the intervention of the television match official, visuals showed Etzebeth making contact with the eye area of Welsh player Alex Mann, resulting in his being sent off the field with a red card.

‘It didn’t look good’

Commenting on the incident after the match, Erasmus said: “I don’t know what I can say at this stage. It didn’t look good, and I thought it was a justified red card.

“How … or why it happened … if he was provoked, I’m not sure. But that’s definitely not the way we want to play.”

The Boks have come under criticism at times this November following red cards shown to Lood de Jager and Franco Mostert for head high tackles.

De Jager copped a lengthy ban, but Mostert’s red card was overturned, and he started the Test against Wales.

Etzebeth is sure to face a hearing in the coming days which, should he receive a ban, will see him likely miss several Sharks URC and EPCR matches in the coming weeks.

Bok captain Siya Kolisi, in a television interview after the match, said of the Etzebeth incident: “I’m sure he didn’t mean to do that on purpose. There’s no way. Eben’s said sorry to the guy already. But I don’t want that to be the highlight of the day. It’s been a good day.”

The Boks’ win against Wales was the world champions’ fifth on tour following earlier wins against Japan, France, Italy and Ireland. It is the second straight year that the Boks have toured Europe in November and not lost a match.