Springboks prop accused of stamping on Ireland’s Josh van der Flier
The incident involving Ireland's Josh van der Flier and South Africa's Ox Nche.
South Africa prop Ox Nche could be in trouble after a video emerged of him stamping on Ireland flanker Josh van der Flier on Saturday.
The replacement loosehead, who impressed off the bench for the Boks, took exception to the back-rower holding him at a ruck.
Once Van der Flier had let go, Boks front-rower Nche decided to press down on the hand of the World Rugby Player of the Year.
His studs remained planted for a couple of seconds into the hand of the openside, who was evidently hurt by the action.
The Ireland player was seen clutching his right hand, but it did not require medical treatment and the back-row was fit enough to continue.
Possible citing
Nche could still be cited with the window open for 36 hours after the match, which means the citing commissioner has until 10am BST on Monday to decide whether it meets a red card threshold.
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Ireland coach John Fogarty stated that he was not aware of any stamping offence, but trusted the governing body to deal with it.
“I’m not aware if there was a stamping on not,” said Fogarty. “I’m sure World Rugby will be looking across everything, referees will be looking across everything.
“At the moment in time, I’m sure there is (a mechanism available) if we needed to. I haven’t heard anything from our end. The disciplinary board will look at it.
“Josh is good, there’s no obvious injuries at the moment. We managed to come out of what was a really physical game with a full bill of health.
“There’s medicals on now, but at this moment in time there’s no obvious injuries.”
“Wilful attempt to injure”
Supporters reacted to the incident on social media with Linebreak Rugby disappointed by the actions of Nche.
“A tough spot for a ref but this is the nonsense that needs to not exist. If you were angry about wishing an injury on a player how about this wilful attempt to injure,” they said.
Some feel that the Springboks prop should be cited while others insist that Van der Flier got what he deserved for his gamesmanship.
Ian Alexander said: “You’ve seemingly cut it where he was holding his leg for an extended period of time”, before adding: “He didn’t put his weight on his hand – just let him know he was there.”
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