‘Ridiculous’ – Springboks fans fume after Andre Esterhuizen sees red for ‘completely legal’ tackle

Andre Esterhuizen’s return to the Springboks starting XV lasted just two minutes as the centre was given his marching orders for a dangerous tackle against Portugal.

The 30-year-old did not feature in the two Tests against Ireland, with Damian de Allende favoured for the matches, as Esterhuizen returned to this week’s side after a raft of changes from Rassie Erasmus.

Andre Esterhuizen’s red card

Clearly looking to make a real impact, Esterhuizen thundered into his opening carry and wanted to have a similar impact on defence from the opening scrum of the game but got his tackle wrong.

He came charging out of the line and hammered into Portugal midfielder Jose Lima with the tackle knocking out the Os Lobos centre, ending his game.

While initially not highlighted by referee Hollie Davidson, the officiating team did review the tackle and the Springbok was deemed to have made head-on-head contact with Lima and was subsequently yellow carded.

The decision was sent to the TMO Bunker and it was upgraded to a red card, ending the centre’s match.

Andre Esterhuizen's tackle. #RSAvPOR pic.twitter.com/xM7PcJEnts

— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) July 20, 2024

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Reaction

The decision has proved to be quite controversial on social media with Springboks’ fans believing that the centre was unlucky to be sent off.

“Red card for poor technique in the tackle for Esterhuizen. But last week there was an attempt on Malcolm Marx’s life and it was only yellow?” one fan remarked.

Another added: “Awful from TMO no head to head, tackle completely legal.”

AP Cronje believed that the officials got the decision completely wrong.

“Yeah not entirely sure that’s red. It wasn’t direct contact and there was enough of a drop in height to keep it at yellow. Still would have been nice if the TMO was this awake for KLA taken out in the air. In fact. I am entirely sure that isn’t red,” he wrote.

Another comment read: “That was a legitimate a tackle as any I’ve seen. Ridiculous TMO decision.”

However, there were those who felt the correct decision was reached.

“Nah, clear red anyday. Glad it’s been updated. Cannot be running into someone’s head like. Bend your f**king knees,” one comment read.

Another added: “Andre Esterhuizen in big trouble. That’s definitely head-on-head contact. Yellow card and into the bunker for a review. Would be lucky to escape red.”

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