South Africa lock Lood de Jager will miss the remainder of the Springboks’ Quilter Nations Series campaign after his red card against France.
De Jager was shown a straight red card by referee Angus Gardner after making direct shoulder-to-head contact on Thomas Ramos just before half time in Paris.
While the Springboks overcame his dismissal to win 32-17 at the Stade de France, they will now be without their second row for fixtures against Italy, Ireland and Wales.
An independent disciplinary panel has upheld the red card and given De Jager a four-match ban, reduced by a game provided he completes World Rugby’s Coaching Intervention Programme, informally known as “tackle school”.
On Saturday night, Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus said that he agreed that a red card was merited and said his side have developed to deal with the circumstances they faced.
“We’ve learned to accept decisions,” Erasmus said when asked about De Jager’s sending off.
“There were times when we would really think about them, and it would bother us for the next 10, 15 minutes, but we’ve now been together since 2018. We’ve learned that dwelling on something like that just gets you nowhere.
“Whether it was the right or the wrong call, we got a red card. I think it was a red card, but I don’t know if it was a permanent red or a 20-minute red. That’s probably debatable, but the fact of the matter is, we got a red [against France] in 2022 with Pieter-Steph du Toit, and we got a yellow for Deon Fourie, and it was also a very close game. So that game gave us experience.”
Erasmus removed captain Siya Kolisi at half-time to bring on Ruan Nortje, who could start against Italy in Turin on Saturday. RG Snyman also featured off the bench while Jean Kleyn and Franco Mostert are other lock options within the wider squad.
