This is the haymaker of all haymakers. Possibly the most legendary, and at the same time infamous, punch seen on a rugby field to date.
Argentina’s 18-year-old prop Federico Mendez leaves the pitch after being sent off following a punch that laid out England’s Paul Ackford. Mendez was winning only his second cap.
He would later claim that he had been provoked by opposing prop Jeff Probyn, whom he accused of stamping on him, and that he had meant to hit Probyn.
England won the match 51-0, avenging a 15-13 defeat four months earlier, and secured their first grand slam for 11 years later that season.
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