The Loop
Rugby player blows snot rocket into opponent's face, should be suspended from the planet
Rugby is the ultimate tough guy sport. Sure, there's UFC, ultra marathoning, and motocross, but rugby—essentially football minus the pads and helmets and acknowledgement of CTE—has donned the bloody, toothless crown for decades. That said, there are apparently a few lines you can't across while pulverizing your opponent's sternum with your collarbone, and South African rugby player Nico Lee managed to find one this week, blowing a snot rocket into an opposing player's face mid-scrum in what has to be one of the nastiest cheap shots in sports history. If you're a germaphobe, this is the part where you might want to look away:
After the incident, which occurred on Saturday in a PRO14 matchup between the Toyota Cheetahs and Connacht, a disciplinary committee found Lee had launched the mucus missile intentionally, handing down a 13-week suspension that will see Lee banned for the remainder of the season, barring appeal. "It is difficult to imagine how an act of foul play of this sort could be worse," said the committee, and we have to agree...although something tells us Bill Romanowski might have a quibble or two:
No if you'll excuse us, we're going to go funnel a box of Emergen-C, take a Purell bubble bath, and make sure our tetanus boosters are up to date.