Cape Town - Saturday's England versus South Africa Test at Twickenham finished in controversial fashion when in extra-time home flyhalf Owen Farrell's "tackle" on Springbok replacement Andre Esterhuizen was ruled fair by the referee and TMO.

READ: Springboks fumble and frustrate ... and lose to England

With England ahead 12-11 and South Africa hot on attack, Farrell put in what looked like a shoulder charge on the burly Sharks midfielder.

Australian referee Angus Gardner consulted his TMO, Ireland's Olly Holmes, and in conjunction they ruled the tackle wasn't a shoulder charge and was legitimate as there were arms involved.

The overwhelming response on social media was that Gardner got the decision horribly wrong.

Obviously it must be mentioned that had Gardner issued the Boks a penalty and either shown Farrell a yellow or red card - or just issued a warning - the resultant penalty would still have needed to have been converted for the visitors to have snatched a last-gasp victory.

Seems fair to ask: what decision is made here if Farrell is a Pacific Island player? pic.twitter.com/nW9vCiwn4f

— Ben Coles (@bencoles_) November 3, 2018