Enough is enough, an example has to be made out of Scott Higginbotham. The Australian flanker's attack on Richie McCaw is not the worst crime that has been committed on the All Black skipper - although it was cheap and ugly - but it is the one that has tipped the balance.
McCaw shrugs off the endless physical abuse. He's had fingers in the eyes, knees to to the head, punches and stomps all over. He said the knee to his face from Higginbotham midway through the first half was annoying, nothing more.
It's typical of McCaw that he doesn't want to dwell on it, make a fuss or whinge. He sees the acts of lunacy as part of the package, an occupational hazard. But even his patience is being tested by the relentlessness of it.
Even he's beginning to wonder why officials continue to let it happen with so little sanction. How on earth could Higginbotham's actions have been missed by the match officials? And now, with the incident left to be dealt with by a judiciary hearing, chances are Higginbotham will be slapped with a wet fish. Everyone else who has been in the dock for assaulting McCaw has pretty much got away with it.
Some, such as England's Dylan Hartley, have got away entirely - haven't even been cited. Quade Cooper was cited but not punished and others such as Dean Greyling, who could have smashed McCaw's jaw in Dunedin, have had pathetic sentences handed down.
