Springboks’ serial dog act offender inexplicably avoids red for cheap shot
Stormers and South Africa No8 Evan Roos, for all his brilliance on the pitch, is starting to develop a reputation for being quite a dirty player. That is at least the opinion of plenty of fans on Twitter following his yellow card again Benetton on on Friday.
The 23-year-old was shown yellow by referee Hollie Davidson at the Danie Crave Stadium after he smashed the head of Manuel Zuliani onto the floor off the ball. It was a shocking move by the Springbok and one that some have said online could have actually killed the Italian. However, it was not deemed a high level of danger by the referee.
This is not the first time that Roos has been in the spotlight though for some dirty pieces of play off the ball. He picked up another yellow card in October for striking an opponent on the floor and has been involved in other similar incidents. Had he not been out for so long this season with a knee injury, he might well have been in trouble more.
Take a look at the incident:
One of the few cases in which real time footage is worse than slo-mo.
Evan Roos grabs Zuliani’s head and slams it to the ground. Looking at this, Davidson says “it’s just an unnecessary action, I’m not seeing it as high level of danger”. TMO agrees. Disgraceful.#URC pic.twitter.com/wrPjybcpD9
— Italian Rugby Players Abroad (@italiansrugby) April 21, 2023
This is what some fans have said online:
“There’s a lengthy ban coming Evan Roos way I think….
I love his old school aggression but this ain’t the first time he’s tipped the balance too far.”
“Evan Roos with full body weight clashing Zuliani head on the ground… those thinks can really kill someone
Much worse than a bite, a punch or even eye gouging
And he get a yellow…
Is this how we protect player safety and the game???”
“Evan Roos needs to stop letting Evan Roos down.”
“Completely unncessary from Evan Roos, starting to garner quite the reputation for off the ball sillyness. A heck of a player no doubt but needs to sort himself out.”
“Evan Roos’ discipline is gonna cost him.”
“I can see the citing commissioner turning that into a ban, absolutely unnecessary, dirty POS, backchatting the ref as well. Evan Roos=wasted potential.”
There’s a lengthy ban coming Evan Roos way I think….
I love his old school aggression but this ain’t the first time he’s tipped the balance too far.
— scrum5ive (@scrum5ive) April 21, 2023
Evan Roos with full body weight clashing Zuliani head on the ground… those thinks can really kill someone
Much worse than a bite, a punch or even eye gouging
And he get a yellow…
Is this how we protect player safety and the game???
— DanPatRugby (@DanPatRugby) April 21, 2023
Evan Roos needs to stop letting Evan Roos down.
— Stephen (@SteviePSport) April 21, 2023
Completely unncessary from Evan Roos, starting to garner quite the reputation for off the ball sillyness. A heck of a player no doubt but needs to sort himself out. #STOvBEN #URC
— Philip Bendon (@PBendon) April 21, 2023
Evan Roos’ discipline is gonna cost him.
— Athi (@aahhtee) April 21, 2023
I can see the citing commissioner turning that into a ban, absolutely unnecessary, dirty POS, backchatting the ref as well. Evan Roos=wasted potential. #STOvBEN
— The Gnome (@GTheGnome) April 21, 2023