Ian Foster has “massive concerns” about Springboks wing Kurt-Lee Arendse’s mid-air hit on Beauden Barrett which sent the All Blacks first-five to hospital and has complained about an earlier incident involving the same player on Jordie Barrett.
Arendse was given a straight red card by Angus Gardner for his collision with Beauden in the 74th minute of the Springboks’ 26-10 victory at Mbombele Stadium. Foster described it as the "worst I've seen".
But Arendse escaped with no sanction after making a similarly reckless challenge on Jordie after only 10 minutes.
After Arendse had celebrated his first Test try in front of the packed stadium, he contested a high ball against Jordie and made a big contact around Jordie's upper leg area, causing the All Blacks fullback to tumble forward and lose the ball.
Despite complaints from brother Scott, the third Barrett on the field, there was no sanction given against Arendse – not even a penalty – even though the No.14 was in no position to claim the ball.
Read more: Beauden Barrett the victim of horrific red card challenge in Boks defeat
Players must not endanger others by contesting a high ball they are in no position to receive, and Arendse's recidivism may count against him at the judicial hearing.
“Massive concerns – it’s probably the worst I’ve seen,” Foster said of the challenge on Beauden which sent him spinning and landing head-first on to the pitch in what was an alarming incident.
“It was pretty disappointing because it happened in the 10th minute as well and they deemed that as fair. That’s part of the problem in the game. In a lineout if you throw a jumper over to their [side] and put an arm up it’s considered obstruction, whereas it’s becoming a bit of a free-for-all for jumpers [contesting high balls].”
Foster said he would seek clarification about the law and what was deemed acceptable before the second Test at Ellis Park on Sunday morning (NZT).
He confirmed that Beauden had a scan on his neck after the match, which was clear, but “we’ll make a decision on that later in the week because he’s still a bit sore.
“We do expect more protection than we got last night.”
The match was delayed while both Arendse and Barrett received treatment after the challenge, with the Boks player shown a red card while he was still prone.
Jordie earlier had left the field with an ankle injury.
In recapping the All Blacks’ third consecutive defeat before the squad travelled to Johannesburg, Foster said he was pleased with the improved defence, mauling and scrummaging.
The All Blacks conceded four scrum penalties during the Test, again conceded the first try, and appear to have a huge challenge breaking their horror run at the weekend. Another defeat will likely spell the end of Foster's inglorious reign.
“It’s a huge week,” Foster added. “We always knew coming here that back-to-back Test matches would be massive. It would have been nice to win the first one but we didn’t, so going to Ellis Park with it all on the line... it’s a trophy [Freedom Cup] that's special to us, as well as the Rugby Championship.
“There’s no point sulking about for too long, we have to go to Ellis Park, make some gains and keep growing our game and still believing. I still feel there’s something special brewing but we have to show that.”
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