Roux’s remarks on RWC offsides

National rugby boss Jurie Roux’s ill-thought comments in the aftermath of South Africa being named as the World Rugby’s preferred candidate to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup are distasteful and smack of arrogance.

On Tuesday, the Rugby World Cup board announced that despite having three exceptional bids from South Africa, France and Ireland, they “identified South Africa as a clear leader based on performance against the key criteria, which is supported by the board in the recommendation”. Now, all that stands in South Africa’s way of hosting the rugby spectacle for the second time is receiving the majority of the 39 votes from the World Rugby Council in London on November 15.

But Roux took the gloss off the announcement by saying the other candidates must “stick to the moral high ground” and allow the process to take its “normal course”. “You can’t add any more information, you can’t present to anybody, you can’t do any more presentations ... all you can do is ask for the process to take its normal course and, hopefully, not be part of anything untoward,” he was widely quoted as saying.

Ireland naturally took offence to the comments, insisting that they still needed to follow the process, and that Roux’s comments were inappropriate.

Who will forget the wonderful celebratory scenes of Springbok captain and flanker Francois Pienaar lifting the Webb Ellis Cup with former president Nelson Mandela cheering him on at Ellis Park in 1995 after South Africa won the title at their first attempt?

Roux would do well to remember that you should be humble in victory and gracious in defeat – an ethos that Pienaar and Mandela share.

Comments like these are disappointing to say the least and not fair on all the people who have put plenty of hard work into bringing the World Cup to our shores for a second time.