‘That was a real shame and a pity that these things can happen in our sport’
coaching and media engagement, until September 30, 2022.
Townsend felt the sentence was fair.
“Thatwasareallybadepisode forourgame,”saidthescotland chief, who was the Lions attack coach in South Africa.
“I was there at the time so I experienced what was going on,” he added.
“Ihavesincespokentonicberry about it and he went through areallytoughtimeandsodidhis family.
"That was a real shame and a pity that these things can happen in our sport. I don’t think it couldhavebeenallowedtocontinue.
“Those antics – we can’t fall into that trap of winning at all costs and putting pressure on individuals,” continued the Scotland head coach.
“It has been a while for that decision to come. That would be my only frustration, that it hastakensolongtocometothis decision.”
Townsend was further irked by Erasmus’ behaviour during the match last Saturday at Murrayfield, which South Africa won 30-15.
“I wasn’t really aware of it at the time but someone showed me a video of him making comments about one of our players, a character assassination or sledging or whatever,” said the Scotland coach. “That’s not the role of coaches; it’s not the role ofanybodyonthesidelinestobe doing that.
“If we want our sport to go down a different route then we allow these things to happen.
Thatwasreallydisappointingto see and I know it wasn’t the only incident over the weekend, over that game.”
While welcoming the punishment meted out to Erasmus by an independent misconduct committee on Wednesday, Townsend felt the matter should have been dealt with in the summer.
“I feel that whatever happens around a game, whether it’s a player or a coach or someone relatedtothegamelikeaphysio, decisionshavetobemademore quickly,” he said.
“I would urge World Rugby to make further changes. Why do we need coaches on the sidelines?iftheyareonthesidelines they have to live up to certain behaviours and values that we pride in our game, which sadly Ifeltoverthesummerandsince then have been lost.”