Springbok winger Kurt-Lee Arendse picked up the 'clearest red card you'll ever see' after a horrific collision with All Black fly-half Beauden Barrett in Mbombela.
The world champions dismantled New Zealand in a dominant 26-10 victory in their Rugby Championship opener, but try-scorer Arendse still saw red in the dying minutes after taking Barrett out in the air in the 75th minute - resulting in both players receiving lengthy treatment and the match being stopped for a number of minutes. Making no clear attempt to compete for the high ball with Barrett, Arendse instead clattered into Barrett - toppling over the All Black mid-air to leave him landing on his head.
Australian referee Angus Gardner was left with a pretty straightforward decision to make as he reviewed the footage with his television match official and fellow Australian, Brett Cronan. Justifying his decision, Gardner said: “No14 is never in a realistic position to contest.
"He has taken out the No10 in the air. No10 has landed dangerously. It’s a red card." As he brandished the red card, both players were still lying on the turf receiving medical treatment.
“It’s a quickly made decision, it’s the right decision,” commented one of the South African SuperSport commentary team. One Twitter user called it the "clearest red card you'll ever see", while a Springbok fan commented on social media that even they couldn't argue that it "might have been the most clear-cut obvious red card I've ever seen".
Rugby writer Paul Williams called it a "proper, proper, proper red card". Remarkably, given the Rugby Championship's decision to continue pursuing the 20-minute red card, Arendse could have returned to the field of play had this incident occurred earlier in the match.
As it was, the Springbok winger would have been in no fit state to return - with Arendse requiring five minutes of treatment before he was stretchered off wearing a neck brace. Barrett was able to walk off the field.
The incident was the second lengthy stoppage in the match after play had been held up for seven minutes after Faf de Klerk suffered a head injury tackling Caleb Clarke in the first minute.
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