There were four examples of punching/ striking during the weekend's rugby with two red cards, six weeks of bans (so far), five punches and an elbow.
The four examples are below, with two in the same game.
Owen Franks
(Click on the image if it isn't playing)
Just ten minutes into Saturday morning's Super Rugby clash saw the most blatant punches you'll ever see in a game. Everyone in the ground, anyone watching and the commentators saw Owen Franks strike two blows to the head of the defenseless Highlanders player within view of the referee. The incident caused quite a melee, and for some reason, the referee not only didn't see what happened, but didn't check with the TMO even when the crowd went "oooh" when it was shown on the big screen.
Kane Hames
(Click on the image if it isn't playing)
In the same game, Kane Hames was cited for this incident in the 74th minute of the game that was almost invisible to everyone except the citing commissioner. After trawling through the footage, this is the best angle I could find, because there was no replay as no one noticed it at the time.
Despite being in the same game and being cited at the same time as Franks, Hames has already received a ban of five weeks.
Rynard Landman
(Click on the image if it isn't playing)
Rynard Landman was given a straight red card for that challenge on Connacht's Jack Carty, which lead to Connacht winning the game 30-25.
Hayden Triggs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT74lWlyfkc
Despite being seen at the time, no camera was able to show a better angle than the one in the video. The TMO involved deferred to the linesman who had enough courage to give Triggs a deserved red card. Triggs has been given a one week ban.
[interaction id="54eb3f7a9cf6a70335b0edd9"]
