Erasmus’ attack on refs not helping Boks: Smit
South African great John Smit believes Rassie Erasmus’ campaign against referees has made the Springboks ‘‘so easy to dislike’’.
Erasmus, South Africa’s director of rugby, is serving a two-game ban for social media posts criticising refereeing performances in the recent Boks losses to Ireland and France.
This comes after he served a one-year ban for his video tirade during the 2021 home series against the British & Irish Lions.
Smit, the 2007 World Cup winning captain, expressed his disappointment in
Erasmus and called for a change in attitude in general in the men’s game.
‘‘It’s hard to defend him,’’ Smit told the BBC’s Rugby Union Daily podcast.
‘‘The way he has approached this is not right. Are you telling me Rassie is the only coach frustrated by a call that has gone the wrong way?
‘‘Something has to be done. There has to be a line that has to be drawn, and he is making it difficult for his team. It’s made us, as a rugby team, so easy to dislike.’’
Smit, who was one of the celebrities at this week’s World Rugby Awards in Monaco, felt the men’s game could learn from the women, and urged a reset to get rugby back on track.
‘‘Obviously we would all like referees to have perfect games every weekend. But I think it starts with the players. We have this very masculine, aggressive game in the men’s game, and you watch the women’s [World Cup] final and you don’t see any of that going on,’’ Smit noted.
‘‘Maybe it is time for everyone across the board to do a little ego check, reset the clock, and get back to what made rugby great, which is being respectful.’’
There have been claims that Erasmus’ microscope look at referees and his criticisms have led to death threats against officials.
Smit felt the Springboks needed to concentrate on their own game rather than match officials and believed the game in general needed more respect and control around referees.
‘‘I honestly believe there should be a penalty for any player who thinks they can help the referee referee the game,’’ he told the BBC.
‘‘The referees have to get control back.
‘‘Everyone seems to think they have an influence over what the referee should be doing. When I was captain, when anyone else spoke they were disrespecting me, and the referee.
‘‘I would like referees to get back in charge and not have to defend themselves the whole time.’’