Springbok lock Bakkies Botha has been heavily criticised in the wake of his head-butt on New Zealand's Jimmy Cowan in Tri-Nations action last week. Many believe he is the ultimate thug in world rugby...

Is it harsh? Or are there any other contenders?

Check out iafrica.com's list of rugby bad boys and feel free to offer your suggestions if we missed anybody out!

JOHAN LE ROUX (SOUTH AFRICA):

In one of the most publicised incidents in Springbok history, prop Johan le Roux did a 'Mike Tyson' on Sean Fitzpatrick, taking a chunk out of the All Black legend's ear.

Fitzpatrick was widely regarded as one of the dirtiest players to play the game, and there was no doubt some provocation on his part, but video footage of Le Roux's mouthful have entrenched him in rugby history as one of the true thugs of the game... and rightly so.

JUSTIN HARRISON (AUSTRALIA):

Justin Harrison was always a nasty piece of work on the field... but it seems he was a bit rough off of it as well.

Apart form being involved in numerous punch-ups, the Wallaby lock was suspended for three weeks in 2005 after admitting he made a racial slur against South African wing Chumani Booi.

More recently, Harrison gave the term 'white-line fever' a whole new meaning after admitting to taking cocaine during his stint with English club Bath.

The 34-Test veteran also admitted to shouting out "Class A, it's OK, everyone's doing it" on the microphone of the Bath team bus heading to an end-of-season party in London last year.

CHRIS CRACKNELL (ENGLAND):

Fathers getting fired up on the sidelines of their sons' matches is nothing new in rugby, but when the fathers of teammates come to blows and the sons themselves get involved it gets a bit ugly.

That is exactly what happened after the Warriors were condemned to relegation from the English Premiership by a 12-10 defeat by Leeds just a few short months ago.

The fathers of Chris Cracknell and James Collins clashed physically in the stands, allegedly over Collins Senior's critical remarks about the performance of flanker Cracknell - that after Collins Jnr had replaced Cracknell Jnr two minutes from time.

Seeing the row, Cracknell hauled Collins's dad over an advertising board and on to the pitch before players stepped in to restrain their teammate.

TREVOR BRENNAN (IRELAND):

The former Leinster, Toulouse and Ireland back five forward could forever be remembered as the 'Cantona of rugby'... but, sadly, not because of his skill on the field.

Brennan was as hard as they come, but in one European Cup match against Ulster in Toulouse he took his physicality too far - all the way into the stands, in fact.

Many of the estimated 1,000 travelling supporters had been drinking in a pub, De Danu, which is part-owned by Brennan and some allegedly chanted "Your pub's a load of b******s".

At first Brennan appeared to play along with the banter, but then he lost his temper, climbed over a barrier and charged into the stand, laying a series of punches on a supporter (Check out the picture above! seriously, who punches Father Christmas?) .

He was initially banned for life, but that was reduced to five years on appeal.

On page two, we look at three more rugby thugs...