La Rochelle hooker Pierre Bourgarit was shown a red card for eye-gouging England World Cup finalist Tom Curry in Sunday’s Champions Cup game.
Bourgarit was stood behind Curry during a scuffle between both sets of players when he reached around and grabbed Curry’s face, appearing to deliberately place fingers over his eyes.
Although Curry was not harmed, TMO intervention resulted in a straight red card for Bourgarit, who winked at Curry as he departed the pitch.
Sale went on to win the game 25-15 at the AJ Bell Stadium having played the entire second half with an extra man and the reaction on social media towards Bourgarit’s actions have been very negative.