Argentina fullback cited for incident that took out Grant Williams

From the kick-off, Springbok scrumhalf Williams claimed the ball and looked to clear it.

Mallia was there quickly to charge him down and did make a connection with the ball, but in the follow through he also took out the half-back.

The Bok playmaker appeared to be immediately knocked out after being hit in the head by the Argentinian's body.

Referee Andrew Brace and his team of match officials deemed it was simply a 'rugby incident', declining even to award the Boks so much as a penalty, to say nothing of a red or yellow card for Mallia.

The citing commissioner has disagreed, however, and Mallia will be up before a disciplinary panel on Tuesday.

"Juan Cruz Mallia of Argentina has been cited for alleged foul play during a Rugby Championship match at the weekend," a SANZAAR statement read.

"Cruz Mallia is alleged to have contravened Law 9.11: Players must not do anything that is reckless or dangerous to others, during the match between South Africa and Argentina at Emirates Airlines Park in Johannesburg on 29 July 2023.

"Upon further review of the match footage, the Citing Commissioner deemed in his opinion the incident had met the Red Card threshold for foul play."

If Mallia is found guilty, it will potentially have a knock-on effect for the Rugby World Cup with Los Pumas having just two matches between now and the start of the tournament.

Following the end of the Rugby Championship, Michael Cheika's men will take on South Africa in the reverse fixture this weekend before facing Spain on August 26.

The incident will also impact Williams' World Cup chances after his game lasted just 10 seconds.

The scrumhalf was fortunately well enough to take his place on the bench later in the encounter, but he will miss the clash with Los Pumas on Saturday as he goes through concussion protocols.

"Grant was out cold so I think there is definitely concussion," Boks head coach Jacques Nienaber said after the match.

"I don't know the extent of it, but he will probably be out for at least two weeks."