Furious John Smit and Schalk Burger slam Springbok red card against France

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The Springboks’ second-row forward made direct shoulder-to-head contact with France’s Thomas Ramos, who was low to the ground following a tackle from another South African player.

Referee Angus Gardner, after consulting with television match official Ian Tempest, ruled that De Jager’s tucked arm rendered the contact inherently illegal and deemed the action intentional.

World Cup-winning Springbok captain John Smit expressed his frustration on social media: “Full red, no review? Our game is in trouble.”

He added, “That’s two weeks in a row for WR. Supporters will understandably lose patience with this, sadly.”

Meanwhile, Schalk Burger questioned Gardner’s call to issue a full red card as he believed that there was enough mitigation, as De Jager was incredibly low when making the tackle, and Ramos was also falling.

“It’s just a rugby incident,” he said on SuperSport’s

“Look, his knee is touching the ground, the straight, permanent red is where I get confused. It is a ‘high level of danger’, but not dangerous enough to send Ramos for a HIA, which Siya Kolisi correctly said to Angus Gardner, ‘Why isn’t he going off for an HIA?’

“And what got him was the tucked left shoulder. Ramos is down, and you’ve got to feel for Lood. You look at it in real time, that tackle happens 90 times a weekend. And if you slow it down, it’s just that left shoulder where he tucked.

“Often, you tuck your left shoulder when there is already someone in the tackle; it’s a natural instinct. You don’t put it out. Straight red? I can’t agree with that.”