Former World Player Of The Year Pieter-Steph du Toit broke down on the sideline after he was given a red card with just 11 minutes played during the France v South Africa match.
The French were hosting the Boks at Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, with Fabien Galthie's side three points up in the opening stages.
Cheslin Kolbe cut against the grain, bringing the ball in field from the right flank, and was tackled by French centre Jonathan Danty. Danty fell backwards and du Toit flew into the inside centre head-to-head with no clear mitigation.
The next few phases passed by before Franco Mostert was penalised for being off his feet. Danty was on the floor the entire time. It has been revealed by l'Equipe that he fractured his eye socket.
"Ooh. That is not good at all." exclaimed commentator Jamie Lyall, as a chorus of jeers rung around the stadium with the replay being shown on the big screen.
Upon review, referee Wayne Barnes decided that there was no clear mitigation with the clear out.
"So we've got head on head. Okay so let's talk about that one - we've got direct head contact to a player who's vulnerable on the floor, he's not looking to move that player, he is leading with the head straight into the head of the player on the floor.
"Do we agree with those facts? There is no mitigation." said Barnes as TMO Brian MacNeice agreed.
Du Toit was shown a red card and left the field with 70 minutes to play. The camera panned to du Toit on the sidelines, head facing the floor, with a hand covering his face.
He was comforted by a team mate, before appearing to break down.
Viewers voiced their thoughts on the incident on social media, with many describing it as a shocking act.
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