It's safe to say referee Wayne Barnes got a little too close to on-field rugby matters when taking charge of Saracens v Sale Sharks, as he clattered into Sarries scrum-half Ivan van Zyl.
It was a big day by all accounts on Sunday afternoon as Sarries' legendary full-back Alex Goode became the club's most-capped player with 339 appearances. He marked the occasion with a 12-point haul and instrumental kick assist, but wasn't the only one to steal some of the limelight.
TV cameras honed in after van Zyl took a pass from flanker Ben Earl before shaping up to pass into Goode. However, Barnes couldn't get out of the way in time and the pair collided. Van Zyl exclaimed "f***!" as the two made contact. Thankfully the commentators saw the funny side of it, before apologising to viewers for the swearing.
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"It's Wayne Barnes and his potty mouth!" said commentator Alastair Eykyn, who initially thought it was Barnes who had sworn.
"Sorry!" said a sheepish Barnes as Eykyn cracked up behind the microphone.
Co-commentator Austin Healy saw it as an opportunity for a joke on the referee. "That's definitely high, that's elbow into the chin by the looks of it!" he said.
"I don't think it was Wayne's language, I think it was Ivan van Zyl! Telling me exactly what he thought," Eykyn added.
You can watch a clip of the incident below:
There was some controversy on social media after Barnes gave a contested scrum instead of a free kick following the incident.
"It’s totally ridiculous that there’s a contested scrum to restart after that," one viewer said on social media. "Free kick seems more appropriate." Another said: "Significant impact on the match! Restart should be a free kick!"
Saracens would go on to win the match 33-22, and extend their perfect start to the Gallagher Premiership season, with seven wins from seven. They're sitting pretty top of the table and are 10 points clear of Sale, who are second.
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