Bizarre scenes as player kisses Springbok he got red carded following mass brawl
It is hard to know where to begin with the red card shown to Toulouse lock Rynhardt Elstadt on Saturday against Toulon.
It all came about following a suspect tackle from Toulon winger Jiuta Wainiqolo which the four cap Springbok did not like the look of. Elstadt confronted Wainiqolo, which caused the Fijian to push back before Elstadt threw a half push half punch to the face of Wainiqolo. This caused bedlam as players from both sides piled in for an almighty brawl consisting of over half the players on the field.
Once everything had settled down, referee Pierre Baptiste Nuchy yellow carded the winger for provocation on 72 minutes, before showing the South African a red card for striking the face. To make matters worse for a player that had just been sent off, Wainiqolo proceeded to kiss his opponents head, which is seldom seen on a rugby pitch, particularly as only a few seconds before Elstadt was assaulting him.
It was a strange turn of events in the closing minutes of the match as Toulon came away 17-6 winners over the league leaders.
Take a look at one of the most bizarre few minutes on a rugby pitch this season:
Toulon XV
1 D. PRISO
2 T. BAUBIGNY
3 E. SETIANO
4 S. REBBADJ
5 B. ALAINU’UESE
6 C. DU PREEZ
7 F. ISA
8 S. PARISSE
9 B. SERIN
10 I. WEST
11 J. WAINIQOLO
12 D. PAIA’AUA
13 W. NAYACALEVU VUIDRAVUWALU
14 C. KOLBE
15 A. LUC
Replacements
16 A. ÉTRILLARD
17 B. DEVAUX
18 A. WARION
19 M. HALAGAHU
20 M. LE CORVEC
21 J. DANGLOT
22 J. SINZELLE
23 K. BROOKES
Toulouse XV
1 D. AINUU
2 G. CRAMONT
3 D. ALDEGHERI
4 R. ARNOLD
5 E. MEAFOU
6 A. PLACINES
7 F. CROS
8 A. ROUMAT
9 P. GRAOU
10 J. MALLIA
11 M. LEBEL
12 S. CHOCOBARES
13 P. BARASSI
14 A. RETIÈRE
15 M. JAMINET
Replacements
16 I. BOUBILA
17 H. REILHES
18 Y. YOUYOUTTE
19 R. ELSTADT
20 T. NTAMACK
21 M. PAGE-RELO
22 S. GUITOUNE
23 J. MERKLER