Siya Kolisi defends Eben Etzebeth stating there is ‘no way’ he eye-gouged on purpose

Springboks captain Siya Kolisi has defended Eben Etzebeth after the second rower was red-carded in the latter stages of South Africa’s 73-0 victory over Wales.

The Boks were in a destructive mood at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, racking up 11 tries against a lowly Welsh outfit, who suffered their worst-ever defeat at their iconic home ground.

Etzebeth was the last of the try scorers, following the likes of Gerhard Steenekamp, Ethan Hooker, Jasper Wiese, Morne van den Berg, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (2), Wilco Louw, Canan Moodie, Andre Esterhuizen and Ruan Nortje.

Siya Kolisi defends Eben Etzebeth

However, the experienced lock soured the occasion with his actions during a scuffle with Wales’ youngster Alex Mann in the final two minutes of the match.

Initially, referee Luc Ramos simply warned Etzebeth and Mann that another scuffle would result in a yellow card, but he was notified by TMO Eric Gauzins that an act of serious foul play had occurred.

Upon review, it was plainly obvious that Etzebeth had stuck his fingers in the eyes of the Wales flanker, and Ramos reacted by issuing a straight red card to the most capped Springboks of all time for eye-gouging.

Speaking in the aftermath of the match and the incident, Kolisi defended his teammate and close friend, stating that he believed that it had to have been an accident.

I’m sure he didn’t mean to do that on purpose. There’s no way,” Kolisi said.

“If you go for an eye-gouge, you know what happens after that [a red card and ban].

Eben’s said sorry to the guy already. But I don’t want that to be the highlight of the day. It’s been a good day.”

That was all Kolisi was willing to say on the incident as he turned his attentions to Wales. Not too long ago, the Welsh were comfortable as one of the top five teams in the world, but have been free-falling since Warren Gatland’s first departure from the head coach role in 2019.

They are now ranked 12th in the World Rugby rankings, but Kolisi believes that they are capable of turning things around, as South Africa did after a plethora of experienced players retired after the 2015 World Cup.

“I’ve listened to what the people have been saying in the media. Asking why Wales would play this game? The only way for a team to get better is to play against the best,” he said.

And I know the first-choice guys went here. But there are new guys who got an opportunity. Next year, when they come through, they’ve already faced this.

“All I can say to them is just pull together. I know Welsh people are fighters; they don’t stand down for anybody, and we’ve been through this too.

“In 2015, so many of our experienced guys retired, and we went through a dip for two years straight, where we struggled as a team, where fans burnt our jerseys and nobody wanted to watch us.

“And then coach Rassie (Erasmus) came and made a plan. I know the players will fight, the coaching staff will come up with a plan, but the young boys that play today, they’ve got a day of experience against playing against the top.”