The moment many have waited for - the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour kicked off on Saturday.

On the whole the game was nothing to write home about. The Barbarians upped their performance from their meeting with England at Twickenham and provided the Lions with the level of contest that they would have hoped for.

There was one incident that occurred however, that just could not be ignored.

It was one that raised the eyebrows across the rugby community and baffled those with Saracens close to their hearts; of course I am talking about the clash between club teammates Owen Farrell and Schalk Brits.

It was an incident that had all the ingredients to attract a furore of attention, and true to form much has been made of it.

This has only been heightened by the championed nature of the culture and team bonding element that has become synonymous with the London club.

There is no denying that the way that Schalk reacted was wrong. Punches should not be thrown, regardless of if they connect or who the individual they are aimed at may be and he has been rightly punished accordingly.

However, the event was hugely out of character for the Barbarians and South African hooker, and the way he has been vilified by some is a vast over-reaction.

The occurrence has also led to the re-emergence of question marks over the temperament over fly half Farrell.

A fiery, determined and competitive individual is something that you have to be to succeed in modern sport.

These are all attributes that young Farrell possesses, however this, combined with his tender years can often lead to undesirable situations, an element of the England fly-half’s game that has been exposed on a few occasions over the past season.

This is something that both the England management and those involved with Saracens will have to make sure is kept under control and used productively before a reputation of the wrong kind is fully established.

Finally, for me, the subsequent ban given to Schalk has raised an issue with the disciplinary process.

There is no question that a ban should have been handed out, or that Saracens’ should be without their star hooker for the start of the season. But the bans should be consistent.

It has not been a good few weeks for Premiership hookers with Northampton Saints captain Dylan Hartley also receiving a spell on the side-lines after his comments towards referee Wayne Barnes in the Premiership final.

However, look past the obvious variants like length of ban and offence and there is one noticeable difference - the missing of pre-season games.

Although, Hartley’s ban has already commenced due to his inclusion within the Lions squad, Brits’ will not commence until the start of the Premiership campaign in September, as this is when competitive season will start again for him.

In my opinion this raises the question of impact not on the individuals themselves but their teammates.

The same rule should apply for everyone regardless of if their summer is spent representing their nation or not - either pre-season games count within a ban or they do not.

Is it fair for Saracens’ to be without their first choice hooker due to a ban in games that could be crucial at the end of the season in such a competitive league while Northampton can willingly call on the services of theirs?

The incident itself and the question marks surrounding disciplinary processes are sure to rumble on long in to the upcoming weeks.

It has also given Saracens the need to prove their team spirit, a task I am sure they will relish as the whole situation is put firmly to bed.