Bulls and Springboks hooker Schalk Brits was banned for four weeks on Tuesday after a punch-up in last weekend's Super Rugby win against the Sharks.
Amazingly, however, the man who instigated the fight – Sharks counterpart Akker van der Merwe – got off with only a three-week ban.
Both players were red-carded when van der Merwe leapt on Brits, pinning him down and exchanging punches, at around the hour-mark of the Bulls' narrow 19-16 win on Saturday.
Brits was found to have acted in self-defence and escaped the maximum penalty of six weeks because he showed remorse and pleaded guilty, a SANZAAR judicial committee hearing said.
4 week ban for Schalk Brits is insane.
— Paul Williams (@thepaulwilliams) April 2, 2019
He was pinned on the floor.
Hit twice.
Fingers all over his eyes.
What else is he supposed to do?
Man alive.
But he couldn't receive the full 50 percent discount for the sanction, like van der Merwe, because he has been suspended twice before for striking.
Brits receiving a heftier suspension was questioned on social media, with several people expressing disagreement with SANZAAR’s judicial process.
