Kyle Sinckler has been charged with biting Franco Mostert as the British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa took another ugly turn.
The Lions prop is accused of biting Mostert, the former Gloucester lock, at the bottom of a ruck in the 64th minute of South Africa’s 27-9 victory, which set up a series decider in Cape Town next Saturday.
Sinckler is the only player from the second Test to face disciplinary action and he is due to appear before an online disciplinary hearing on Tuesday.
World Rugby’s recommended minimum sanction for biting starts at 12 games. A guilty verdict would not only end Sinckler’s Lions tour but potentially his hopes of playing for England in the autumn internationals.
Mostert is understood to have made the allegation of biting to the match officials. Scott Nowland, the match citing commissioner, was granted a 12-hour extension to the usual reporting window to examine additional angles of the incident.
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The only broadcast footage available shows Sinckler tackling Vincent Koch, the South Africa prop, before being wrapped up by Mostert on the ground. When the ruck breaks, Mostert looks down at his right arm.
Sinckler has a chequered disciplinary record and was most recently banned for two games in February for swearing at a referee.
The Lions were keeping their counsel but will be staggered that Sinckler is the only player to have been cited from the game — in particular that no further action was taken against Cheslin Kolbe, the South Africa wing, for a dangerous collision with Conor Murray.
A charge can only be brought if the citing commissioner believes an incident is worthy of a red card. Kolbe was shown a yellow card for dangerous play after he collided with Murray, the Lions scrum, who was airborne and came down face first. It has been described by the former international referees Nigel Owens and Rob Debney as “very dangerous”.
Ben O’Keeffe, the referee, ruled on the field that Murray had landed on his back and cited that as justification for showing a yellow card. None of the other three match officials challenged that decision — and it has now been supported by Nowland.
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Earlier in the day, Stuart Hogg, the Lions full back, took the unusual step of issuing a categorical denial that he had bitten Willie Le Roux. The two players were engaged in a scuffle in the immediate aftermath of Murray being taken out in the air by Kolbe and footage began circling online soon after the game.
“Following speculation that has surfaced online, I would like to categorically deny any foul play in last night’s game. I would never bite an opponent and I am annoyed and upset by this unsubstantiated accusation. I’ve always been proud of playing rugby in the spirit of the game,” Hogg said.
“Respect to the Springboks for their deserved win yesterday. The squad is hurting after last night’s defeat, but it’s all to play for next week. It’s going to be a cup final and everyone’s going to be up for it.”
In an ominous sign for the Lions, South Africa have been boosted for the third Test by the return to the squad of Duane Vermeulen, the powerhouse No 8 who has recovered from ankle surgery. They have also added Jaden Hendrikse, 21, as cover at scrum half after Faf de Klerk left the field injured on Saturday. The World Cup winning No 9 pulled up after a clearance kick.
There were a lot of incidents on Saturday for the citing commissioner to examine — including a first-minute tackle from Mako Vunipola on Eben Etzebeth, a potential no-arms tackle from Faf De Klerk on Murray and a head-on-head collision when Kolbe attempted to tackle Tom Curry.
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Ultimately, none of them met the red card threshold. The citing officer also ruled no action was required against Maro Itoje, who planted his knee on the throat of Damien De Allende as the players tangled on the floor.
The match officials had been put under enormous pressure by Rassie Erasmus after South Africa’s director of rugby recorded an hour-long video criticising Nic Berry’s refereeing performance in the first Test.
Erasmus accused Berry of showing a lack of respect to Siya Kolisi, the Springboks captain, and of a series of incorrect and inconsistent decisions.
World Rugby have still taken no disciplinary action against Erasmus, who was running on water and instructions on Saturday, nor has it seen fit to issue any statement of condemnation.
