Springbok coach Peter de Villiers left a media ensemble at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday stunned, when he suggested flank Schalk Burger should not have been carded for his act of eye  gouging in the 28-25 Test victory over the British and Irish Lions.

Burger was yellow carded in the first minute of the series-clinching Test - which gave the Boks an unassailable 2-0 lead, with just the Ellis Park encounter next week remaining.

The Bok flank was sent to the sin-bin for gouging Lions wing Luke Fitzgerald, in the first minute, and will most likely face a judicial hearing next week.

Most observers felt Burger should have been red-carded, but the assistant referee suggested only a yellow card.

Television replay showed clear evidence of gouging, but he Bok coach stunned the media with his post-match response.

"I don't think he should have been carded at all," De Villiers said, adding that he didn't see the "evidence" that caused the flank to be sin binned.

De Villiers then went on the offensive, suggesting there was "lots of niggle" in the match.

"If you dissect the whole game, you will see [all] the yellow cards that were missed [by the match officials]," De Villiers added.

The Bok coach said they will "wait for the judicial officer" to decide if Burger should be cited.

He added that he doesn't care much for other people's opinions.

"What people say, it's their opinion. It doesn't mean we have to agree with them," he said in response to repeated suggestions that Burger was guilty of gouging.

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