Cardiff witnessed a historic yet controversial conclusion to the autumn internationals as South Africa delivered a crushing 73-0 defeat to Wales on Saturday. The reigning world champions demonstrated their formidable dominance by scoring eleven tries in a display of pure rugby supremacy.
However, the spectacular performance was overshadowed in the final minutes when veteran lock Eben Etzebeth received a red card for making contact with the eye area of Welsh flanker Alex Mann. The incident occurred during a scuffle in the 79th minute, with referee Luc Ramos immediately dismissing the 34-year-old Springbok legend.
South Africa’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus acknowledged the seriousness of the incident, stating: ‘The optics weren’t great. It didn’t look good and it was a justified red card.’ Erasmus expressed disappointment that the match concluded on such a note, particularly as Etzebeth had just scored the final try moments before the infraction.
The victory completed South Africa’s perfect autumn campaign and cemented their position as the world’s top-ranked team. Meanwhile, Wales suffered their most lopsided defeat in history, extending their dismal record to 21 losses in their last 23 Test matches under new coach Steve Tandy.
Erasmus offered words of encouragement to the struggling Welsh side, drawing parallels to South Africa’s own rebuilding period: ‘We were in that situation where people were burning jerseys. Get one or two wins, get on a roll and things will change. I know that things changed from 2016, when we were nowhere, to 2019 when we won the World Cup.’
Etzebeth, who earned his record 141st cap for South Africa during the match, now faces a potentially lengthy suspension. World Rugby regulations mandate bans ranging from 6 to 208 weeks for eye contact incidents, depending on severity and intent.