Moments of brutality are part and parcel of rugby, but every now and then there comes one that could and should have been easily avoided.

Arguably the worst tackle of all time took place in a Yorkshire Men's League Division One match, and it left viewers outraged.

It occurred in the rugby league match between Stanley Rangers and Ossett Trinity, and the player who suffered from the awful hit had previously taken another high tackle from a different player, so tensions had already been building in the match.

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The moment itself involves a Rangers prop, who charged towards his opponent and clothes-lined him with a leading elbow, straight to the head. In footage that makes viewers wince, the victim's head rocks back in a brutal whiplash motion.

Remarkably, the player was not given a red card and the game continued. The referee later admitted he was gutted to get it wrong. There was another high tackle later on in the game, which resulted in the match being abandoned.

Watch the clip below.

Danny Tindall, who refereed the match, explained what happened.

"I called it as I saw it live," he explained.

"When I reviewed the footage I was gutted I'd got the call wrong. I sent the footage to the RFL to follow up. It's one of the worst intentional tackles tackles I've been involved in."

The video has been watched more than 5 million times.