Kyle Sinckler laughs after taking Faf de Klerk’s dirtiest shot
England and British & Irish Lions tighthead Kyle Sinckler has butted heads with South Africa scrum-half Faf de Klerk on a number of occasions across both of their careers.
But one incident between the two, which may have gone unnoticed at the time, has surfaced online thanks to SEM Ruggas. It happened during the Lions tour last summer when the Sale Sharks No9 was trying to take a quick lineout. However, Sinckler, standing in the five metre channel, was blocking his pass. So he proceeded to aim the ball straight at the Bristol Bears prop.
This was not just throwing the ball at Sinckler though, rather he aimed for a very particular spot… and landed. Now Sinckler must be applauded for taking a point blank pass to his nether region in the way he did, as he simply laughed it off. Now many people who found themselves in Sinckler’s position would be rolling about in agony, and in truth, nobody would blame them.
Some people may give de Klerk the benefit of the doubt and say that he was not aiming there, but that would be doing any scrum-half a disservice as it is discrediting his passing ability. So in this situation, you have one of two choices- you can either say that de Klerk is a dirty player, or that he is a bad scrum-half and cannot aim where he is passing.
Fortunately for referees officiating the two, the only time the pair will meet from now on is on the international stage, as it was recently confirmed that the World Cup winner will be leaving Sale at the end of the season after five years at the AJ Bell. However, they will have one last hurrah when Sale host Bristol in the final match of the Gallagher Premiership season. De Klerk may have some tricks up his sleeve…
Take a look at the incident:
