Most ill-disciplined player in history strangely sent off for doing nothing
Argentina lock Tomas Lavanini has plenty of experience of being sent off by referees in Test rugby, in fact, more than any player in history.
Not only has the 29-year-old got the most red cards in Test matches, three, his seven yellow cards also make him the most carded player.
He is so used to being dismissed by referees that he barely batted an eyelid on Saturday against Australia when referee Mike Adamson sent him off, despite the fact that he had done nothing wrong at all. The moment came in the second half when Argentina had just conceded a penalty try for collapsing a Wallabies maul. Immediately after awarding the try, Adamson showed Lavanini the yellow card, despite the fact that the ASM Clermont Auvergne lock remained standing and driving during the maul.
Lavanini looked a bit miffed but began to walk off, before he was called back and his second row partner Matías Alemanno was yellow carded instead. But it has got to the stage that Lavanini is so used to being sent off that he does not even question it any more.
The other alternative is that he did do something illegal that was missed by the cameras and the officiating team, and he just assumed he was being sent off for that. Given his disciplinary track record, this was very much a possibility.
The worst thing for Argentina was that the Wallabies pulled away during the ten minutes Alemanno was off the field. The Pumas were leading 26-17 when the maul was collapsed, but were trailing 34-26 when the sin binning had finished, and went on to lose 41-26.
The result leaves the Wallabies at the top of the Rugby Championship table due to the bonus point they accrued, which second placed South Africa failed to earn.
Take a look at the yellow card:
