Is this really a hand-off?

Bismarck du Plessis of the Sharks charges ahead. He has the ball under his left arm. He bumps off Pieter Louw of Western Province and then clashes with Rynhardt Elstadt. But there had been a previous infringement and play was stopped.

Look at Du Plessis's right forearm as he makes contact first with Louw, then with Elstadt. It is bent in front of him and clearly is a weapon - a dangerous one.

A while ago John Smit was cited and suspended for six weeks for a similar action against Jérôme Thion, the French captain at the time. In that case Thion suffered a cracked larynx.

It is true that injury exacerbates a dangerous act but really it should be the act that should be guarded against. In this case certainly. Even if it were an incident when the ball was dead, a penalty, at least, would have been appropriate.

It does not have to be fully described in the law for the referee to judge dangerous, but it is in a way.

Law 10.4 (a) Punching or striking. A player must not strike an opponent with the fist or arm, including the elbow, shoulder, head of knee.
Sanction: Penalty kick

A hand-off is with the open hand and is an act of pushing, not striking.