Eben Etzebeth-Alex Mann eye gouge conspiracy theory put to bed as full judgement revealed

Eben Etzebeth has revealed that Alex Mann did not make contact with his eyes during the scuffle, which led to the Springboks lock’s 12-week ban.

South Africa’s star second-row was suspended on Thursday after he was found to have ‘intentionally’ eye-gouged the Wales flanker.

The powerhouse forward will spend the next few months on the sidelines and miss most of the Sharks’ season after the panel deemed that he committed a mid-range offence.

After the match, there were claims that Etzebeth may have been provoked, with accusations that Mann put his hand or fingers in the eye area of his opponent.

Grainy footage and a screenshot was spread on social media with the Welshman’s hand seemingly around the face of South Africa’s record cap holder.

However, Etzebeth insisted that no contact was made with his eyes or in the eye area.

Etzebeth’s account of the incident

He provided a written statement to the panel which read: “Welsh#7 and I were both on the ground. We started pushing and shoving each other on the ground. The shoving and pushing continued until we got onto our feet but nothing serious came of that. Just pushing and shoving each other.

“A few other players (from both sides) joined in, and the situation was basically de-escalating and almost over.

“There were one or two Welsh players in between me and the Welsh#7. I got an open palm to the face in my upper neck/chin area by Welsh#7. I looked at the assistant referee to check whether he saw what the Welsh#7 did.

“I received no reaction from the assistant referee and Welsh #7 went on to pull my jersey towards him, again. At this time I felt I had to start defending myself otherwise I’m going to be rag dolled by Welsh #7.

“It was at that time that I wanted to push him against the shoulder to try and get hold of him, so he doesn’t continue to have control of me and my jersey. There were lots of other players involved.

“South African #20 was behind the Welsh#7 and some of the Welsh players were between us. I made contact first with his shoulder. My hand went into his face.

“It was very quick and the slow-motion showed that I made contact with his eye. I did not, at any stage, aim for his eyes or intend to make contact with his eye.”

Etzebeth was then asked to submit verbal evidence, where he once again confirmed that Mann did not gouge him, the full written judgment confirms.

“We heard from the Player. 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,” the panel stated.

It added: “He insisted it was not a deliberate or voluntary movement by him to W7’s face. He said he did not feel W7’s eye and did not know he had touched his eye at the time.”

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‘Reckless’ rather than ‘intentional’ argument

Etzebeth’s representative, Adrian Montzinger, argued that the contact was reckless and recommended a mid-range sanction of 12 weeks, with full mitigation applied.

Montzinger also suggested that, should the panel find against him and the contact be deemed intentional then it should meet the low-end entry point.

That was rejected by the disciplinary committee, however, who felt it met the mid-range sanction after viewing it as intentional.

The panel also reviewed three previous eye-gouging cases, but they were rejected as not being in any way similar to the severity of Etzebeth’s incident.

They ultimately concluded upon reaching a mid-range sanction.

“It involved the pressing of the thumb directly on and into the eye for about one second, as oppose to a transient brushing across the eye contact.

“It was retaliatory but it was far out of proportion to the pulling of his shirt and anything which had gone before.

“It was part of a sustained engagement with W7 during which the Player’s hand/s repeatedly went into his face.”

READ MORE: Eben Etzebeth fate revealed as Springboks star learns punishment for eye-gouge against Wales