ETZEBETH ACCEPTS BAN BUT INSISTS GOUGE WAS ACCIDENTAL

South African rugby star Eben Etzebeth has accepted a 12-match ban for an eye-gouging incident during the Springboks’ 73-0 rout of Wales, but he’s adamant that the contact with Welsh flanker Alex Mann’s eye wasn’t intentional.

The veteran lock was shown a red card late in the match in Cardiff after television match officials flagged what appeared to be deliberate eye contact.

An independent disciplinary committee later ruled that the action was intentional, applying a mid-range 18-week starting point for gouging before reducing the sanction to 12 matches because of Etzebeth’s clean disciplinary record and other mitigating factors.

In a lengthy social-media statement, the 34-year-old explained his side of the incident, acknowledging fault but insisting he never set out to gouge Mann’s eye.

“I’ve been quiet, but now that my hearing is done, I think I owe everyone an explanation,” Etzebeth wrote. “First of all, this is not a post to show that I was not guilty — I accept guilt. I made a mistake, and I’m willing to serve a suspension which I deserve. But I would never do something like this on purpose.”

Etzebeth claimed the situation unfolded fast. He said he was initially struck by Mann and that his own response (an open-handed motion toward Mann’s shoulder) got misread when additional players intervened in the scuffle, allegedly altering his hand’s path toward the eye.

“You can clearly see my first point of contact is against his shoulder with an open hand,” he said, adding that the slow-motion replays made the moment look worse than it was.

The lock also took the opportunity to address younger fans, saying he didn’t want them to think eye gouging was acceptable and expressing regret for “letting you and the game down.”

He noted that this was his first red card in a long career, and he hopes it will be his last.

Image credit: BBC