'A disgrace to the game of rugby'

REACTION: Australia scrumhalf Nic White found himself in the headlines for all the wrong reasons after his team's win over the Springboks.

The Wallabies’ 25-17 victory at the Adelaide Oval has blown the tournament open once again, but there was more than one incident that caused an uproar in the rugby fraternity.

One moment in particular set tongues wagging.

In the 39th minute Wallabies No.9 White ‘earned’ Australia a yellow card after he received a glancing blow to the moustache from opposite number Faf de Klerk.

White appeared to look up to the referee and then drop to the ground following the minor collision, leading many to believe that he had made the most of the contact to eke out a penalty.

Faf looked perplexed when Referee Paul Williams awarded him a yellow card for the incident and needless to say, it didn’t go down well with Boks’ fans or indeed the panel of experts on Super Sport in SA, who didn’t see the funny side of it.

Reacting to the incident after the game, former Springbok flyhalf Butch James told the panel on Super Sport that: “It’s a disgrace to the game of rugby that a player [Nic White] can behave like that.”

Fellow panellist Nick Mallett pointed out that De Klerk has set himself for a fall by making contact in the first place. “It’s stupid enough to have a swinging arm, he opened himself up to it,” said Mallett.

The incident of course became a talking point on Twitter, with former Springbok captain John Smit tweeting that the action ' killed a piece of rugby's soul'

Meanwhile, Former Scotland lock Jim Hamilton wrote: “Some men would rather be stripped naked in -40 degree temperatures live on tv than have their moustache slapped off.”