The Welkom-born Mostert was shown a permanent red card in the 11th minute of the Test, which certainly stole the shine from what should have been a thrilling spectacle. The red card has been condemned worldwide, even by Bok critics from as far afield as New Zealand and Australia. 

Sadly, if the current trend continues, Mostert must prepare himself to serve a ban.

A week prior, Lood de Jager also received a permanent red card during the victory against France in Paris and, following his hearing, was handed a four-week suspension. He is set to appeal the decision.

?? Franco Mostert's red card.

Insane decision. #ITAvRSA pic.twitter.com/PskZt8S2hu

— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) November 15, 2025

In recent times, South African players have often received the short end of the stick. One example is the heavy ban Jan-Hendrik Wessels received, despite there being no evidence, while the player who punched him on the ground got off scot-free.

Springbok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick, in a very diplomatic way, explained it’s disappointing to lose players for lesser offences. Ultimately, it’s the sport and fans who are being robbed by poor officiating, even when proper protocols are in place to ensure the correct decisions are made by match officials.

“I think Sous (Franco Mostert) is going to have a hearing either tomorrow or Wednesday, and Lood de Jager will also go through another appeal,” said Stick.

“But at the moment, as a team, we’re just disappointed with how things are unfolding. It feels like every week we lose another player, and that’s tough.

“The build-up to the Italy game was really good. If you look at how Italy played the previous week and the spirit they showed in Turin, everyone was looking forward to a great match. For the game to turn out the way it did was very disappointing.

“If you’re saying Franco’s incident was a red card, then based on some of the other incidents we saw over the weekend, there should probably have been more than five red cards. Yet suddenly, similar situations become yellow cards. We’re disappointed with the inconsistency in how things are being handled at the moment.”

Lood de Jager is shown a red card by Angus Gardner in the Test against France in Paris. Photo:  X

Stick further added that, as a team, they are constantly working on getting their techniques right so that when they face a team like Italy, they receive the respect they deserve on the field.

“If you look at Franco’s actions – and even Lood’s situation the previous week – they both tried to do everything by the book,” Stick added.

“Maybe there was a technical error in the height of the tackle, but it was clearly accidental, and I don’t understand how that becomes a permanent red card. Rugby is a physical game – things won’t always be perfect. But to say those tackles were never legal is disappointing.

“That game had all the ingredients to be a beautiful spectacle. Italy deserved full respect, and I genuinely felt they had everything in place to control the match. I also feel for the referee, because we understood the communication happening between him and his team outside. 

Franco Mostert. Photo: X

“There were probably about 21 decisions to be made in the first half, and around 20 of them went against us – not because of the ref, but because he has to respect the calls coming from his team.

“So yes, we’re disappointed. But once again, I feel for Italy and want to apologise for how things turned out. They’ve got a good coaching staff and players who were up for the game, and they didn’t deserve for the match to unfold the way it did because of those other factors.”

This week, the Boks’ attention is on Ireland, with Saturday’s highly anticipated Test at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin kicking off at 19:40.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek cvs