The Wales under-20 second-row Adam Beard who gouged the eye of Ireland's Kelvin Brown during Ireland's win on Tuesday has been hit with a nine-week ban by the citing committee.
Beard was found guilty of recklessly making contact with Brown's eye area - rather than the more serious charge of deliberate contact.
Questions, though, have been raised in the past about imposing bans from the senior game at an underage level.
While the incident was undoubtedly a nasty one - this ban essentially ends Beard's international underage career as he will be too old to take part in their next campaign. any rugby players never progress past that sort of level - so while the rules of the game have to be implemented - whether or not such draconian sanctions are necessary at this level.
Beard's career should be fine - he has PRO12 experience already with Ospreys where he is highly rated - but many are not so lucky.
Luckily, Munster back-row Brown escaped injury and will be free to face New Zealand in Ireland's next game on Saturday. He was a second-half replacement in the Wales game but impressed during his time on the pitch. Whether that is enough to force his way into head coach Nigel Carolan's plans is still to be seen.
Ireland are massive underdogs for Saturday's clash, with bookies quoting Ireland at 14/1 to win against the formidable Baby Blacks.
