WATCH | Specman almost knocked out cold, referee criticised for not stopping play

Western Province scored one of the tries of the season in Wednesday's 24-17 Currie Cup defeat to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.

However, it was a controversial try as several social media pundits questioned why referee Morne Ferreira did not halt play as Cheetahs speedster Rosko Specman received a sickening blow to the head.

Specman was nearly knocked out cold while attempting to tackle WP winger and try-scorer Angelo Davids in the 67th minute.

Play was bizarrely allowed to continue despite Specman clearly needing medical attention.

The Cheetahs regained possession and launched an attack deep into WP territory, before the Cape side won a turnover to launch a counter-attack.

Specman somehow forced himself up to attempt another tackle, but he was easily side-stepped by Davids who rounded off a spectacular try in the corner.

WATCH the incident in the video clip below:

End to end action + isiXhosa commentary = ???????? ?????????????????????????? in the world of rugby ?? and we're here for it ???? pic.twitter.com/YDGJ09CazF

Social media was abuzz over the incident, with pundits questioning why play was not halted for Specman to receive urgent medical attention.

Absolutely appalling that the ref didn’t stop the game as Specman got knocked out. Horrible to watch as he almost ends up making a tackle thereafter.

The fact Specman stayed on and wasnt tended to by medical staff immediately after that first contact is nothing but shocking:Contact to head ??Posting response ??Disorientated/unstable ??Can have all the guidance in the world but if it's not enforced/manged it's useless. https://t.co/hJwKImpgvG

Okay, but Specman should have been attended to esabetha la qulukubhede wokqala. https://t.co/irKlEgMCEX

That genuinely could have been a