International rugby players might spend 80 minutes trying to knock the opposition’s heads off, but there are certain rules (spoken and unspoken) that they adhere to.

When the final whistle goes there’s often a shared respect following a bruising match, but relationships between the All Blacks and the Wallabies have become somewhat frayed following an incident this past weekend.

Prop Owen Franks is at the centre of it all, his eye gouge on Wallaby Kane Douglas under the spotlight. Franks has been cleared by southern hemisphere governing body SANZAAR, but the backlash continues.

Take a look for yourself below:

There are certain acts that always provoke outrage amongst fans, and you can add an eye gouge to the likes of spitting and hair pulling at the top of the frowned upon list.

I think it would be hard to watch that video above without thinking Franks’ actions were intentional – you’re well within your rights to remove a player from a maul or ruck situation with force, but every pro knows that raking your hand along someone’s facial region is courting controversy.

The last word to rugby legend Brian O’Driscoll, who sums up what many watching will feel:

[source:nzherald]