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Former Springboks flanker Schalk Burger has hit out at the decision to hand Lood de Jager a permanent red card during the match against France on Saturday evening. De Jager was handed his marching orders in the 38th minute for his tackle on Thomas Ramos in an electrically charged atmosphere at the Stade de France, which eventually saw the visitors win 17-32 despite playing the entire second half with 14 men. This was the first meeting between the two sides since their Rugby World Cup 2023 quarter-final, which the Springboks won by one point in controversial circumstances. And the contentious decisions continued in Paris on Saturday night, with de Jager clattering into Ramos, with his shoulder making contact with the No.10's head, who was already falling to the ground. Referee Angus Gardner conferred with his TMO Ian Tempest and judged it was dangerous and illegal and proceeded to send de Jager off for the remainder of the match. "Goodness me, that's Lood de Jager, and that feels, unless there's a lot of mitigation…," said TNT Sports commentator Nick Mullins, insinuating it was a red card. "Nothing yellowy-red about that challenge from Lood de Jager. It felt the reddest of reds." But Springboks great Burger disagreed and was left confused by the call, while a former skipper said the "game is in trouble". “It’s just a rugby incident,” Burger said at half-time. “Look, his knee is touching the ground, the straight, permanent red is where I get confused. It is a ‘high level of danger’, but not dangerous enough to send Ramos for a HIA, which Siya Kolisi correctly said to Angus Gardner, ‘Why isn’t he going off for an HIA?’ “And what got him was the tucked left shoulder. Ramos is down, and you’ve got to feel for Lood. You look at it in real time, that tackle happens 90 times a weekend. And if you slow it down, it’s just that left shoulder where he tucked. “Often, you tuck your left shoulder when there is already someone in the tackle; it’s a natural instinct. You don’t put it out. Straight red? I can’t agree with that.” On X, former South Africa skipper John Smit said: "Full red, no review? Our game is in trouble." With the Springboks facing more than half the game with 14 men, Rassie Erasmus made the decision to withdraw his skipper Siya Kolisi, who was playing his 100th Test match. The Springboks head coach revealed the legendary captain's response to his early exit from the field on such a momentous personal occasion. “To take our captain off in his 100th match because we had to put Andre [Esterhuizen] on to play loose forward and centre, depending on whether we had a scrum or a line-out, was a tough call,” Erasmus said post-match. “So it was for the captain to go off at half-time, but when we said it to him, he just took it on the chin and understood. “Same with Damian de Allende, who was playing really well, but we also had to sub him with Andre so he can play both in the scrums and the backline.” Kolisi's acts on the bench also contributed to the win, Erasmus added. “The impact Siya made from the bench was when the whole team saw the moment he was told that he wasn’t going to play the second half, and he said he totally understands," he said. “That impact is enough. Then the other players will say ‘our captain, who has played 100 games, is willing not to go in the second half for the team to win’. “That impact is enough.” “Today was special,” said Kolisi in the aftermath of the game. “We knew something like this could happen. We prepared in the week as if we were to get a red card in the match. We knew it could happen because of the intensity and physicality. We said to ourselves, so what, if it is going to happen, so be it. We will keep on moving, and that’s exactly what we did.” Follow all of our channels to ensure you stay up to date with the latest Welsh rugby news. Sign up to our free daily newsletter here and our WhatsApp channel here for all the breaking news. You can also follow us on social media on our X account , Facebook , Instagram and TikTok. For more exclusive stories and in-depth analysis, you can sign up for the Inside Welsh Rugby substack newsletter here.
