A 10-minute compilation of some of the most brutal red cards in modern professional rugby will leave even hardcore fans scratching their heads in disbelief.
The montage begins with Ryno Pieterse’s recent sending off in the Top 14 with a nasty-looking challenge on Bordeaux scrum half Mazime Lucu and also features some of the game’s biggest stars.
French battering ram Mathieu Bastareaud, who’s been labelled one of rugby’s biggest thugs, plays his role in the video with a viscous swinging arm while playing a league match for Toulon.
Elsewhere some high profile red cards are also included such as Sébastien Vahaamahina’s infamous elbow against Wales in the 2019 World Cup quarter-final in Japan. The incident was a turning point in the game which saw the French knocked out of the tournament by a single point to the Welsh.
“At that moment, we were in a good place in the match,” said Vahaamahina. “I thought to myself: ‘we’re in a position to score and possibly kill off the match. I was full of energy, aggression and will. And then all of a sudden, I lost control. Until that point, I felt like I was in my own match, and then I wasted it all.”
However one of the most cynical incidents in the montage came in the form of La Rochelle hooker Pierre Bourgarit’s eye gouge on England’s Tom Curry during a 2019 Champions Cup game.
The France hooker saw red from referee Andrew Brace for making contact with Curry’s eyes during a scuffle before half time at the AJ Bell Stadium, in what was one of the easiest decisions the referee will ever make.
Bourgarit was later banned for six weeks for the foul play on Curry, which some fans felt wasn’t sufficient at the time given the severity of the incident.
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