Sam Warburton, Jamie Roberts, Wales and South Africa have all criticised the actions of a so-called rugby fan who entered the field of play during Wales’ Test match against South Africa on Saturday.
Towards the end of the second half, Wales were attacking down the left-hand side of the pitch when the ball was fed to substitute Liam Williams.
But the wing found his path blocked by a supporter who had invaded the pitch, before he was subsequently wrestled to the ground by stadium stewards and removed.
It prompted boos from those in the stadium while some are reported to have also thrown pints of beer at the individual as he was escorted away from the field, with serious questions now set to be raised about security.
Wales and Dragons centre Jamie Roberts, appearing as a pundit for Amazon Prime Video, labelled the incident “outrageous”.
“I’m sure security are going to have a look at that,” he said. “You cannot have fans comings onto the field of play during play.
“Whether Liam goes on to score that, I’m not quite sure, the pass is behind him anyway but that is just outrageous.
“I know a fan got on during the All Blacks line-up during the anthem last week, and that’s happened again this week so, they have to look at that because it’s unacceptable at this level.”
Former Wales and Lions skipper Warburton was equally as damning on the supporter but wasn’t convinced Williams would have scored.
He said: “I don’t think Liam Williams is going to score there, I think he slightly overran himself anyway, he would have had to check himself.
“But the fan got what he deserved, the whole stadium booed. I think it was a disgusting thing for a fan to do.
“Let’s just enjoy the spectacle, we’ve got fans back, please be respectful of the the rules so we can all enjoy the game.”
Bryan Habana dubbed it “idiotic”, while Tom Shanklin added of Williams’ attacking chance: “To be affected like that is just appalling”.
Read more: The latest Wales v South Africa reaction and analysis
As for the Wales camp, head coach Wayne Pivac admitted he was very disappointed.
“Look, I don’t know. We just saw a two-v-one type situation forming up. You don’t want to see that in the game,” he said.
“Very disappointing that happened, but nothing the officials could do about that.”
Pressed on whether he thought Wales would have scored had it not been for the intruder, he added: “I don’t know. I don’t know. At the time, I thought here we go. We had a one-man advantage. I haven’t had a chance to speak to the players.
“They might have been distracted but there wasn’t much more the officials could have done. They’ve got to deal with that the way they did.”
As for the opposition, South Africa captain Siya Kolisi said: “I saw it in the end. There was nothing we could have done. Both teams reacted to the situation.
“You just see someone getting tackled. I thought it was well taken care of by the stadium staff.”
Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber added: “It was on the other side of the pitch. I didn’t even see it. I just saw someone taking off the pitch. I thought someone was injured.”
It is the second incident in a week at the stadium, after a serial prankster managed to make it onto the pitch during the New Zealand anthem last Saturday.
Mark Williams, Principality Stadium manager, said of the Wales v South Africa intruder: “We condemn this type of behaviour in the strongest possible terms. He was intercepted and immediately escorted from the stadium and handed over to South Wales Police.”