Springboks coach rushes
South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus has been quick to deny any suggestions of racism in his squad following an incident involving wing Makazole Mapimpi at the end of their Rugby World Cup win over Italy.
Erasmus insists his team has never been more united as a storm erupted in South Africa after the 49-3 win over Italy.
TV cameras captured six white players appearing to exclude Mapimpi from their celebrations.
But, as Mapimpi explained in a brief video, the players were replacements known as the ‘‘Bomb Squad’’ and they do their own celebrations at the end of each match.
Mapimpi started on the left wing against Italy and so wasn’t part of the Bomb Squad for that match and that’s why he wasn’t involved in the private celebration.
Erasmus also felt obliged to offer a detailed explanation of events to try to soothe things back home.
He said the Bomb Squad ‘‘either come in and fix it when it is not going well on the park or it is a false alarm and maybe they don’t even get onto the park’’.
‘‘It was a standing joke in the team