Rassie drops another hit piece
RASSIE Erasmus just can’t help himself! Despite mounting concern that his video criticisms of referees are now doing the Springboks more harm than good, the SA Director of Rugby has had another crack at the officials that presided over the Boks’ 30-26 defeat to France in Marseille.
Siya Kolisi’s men played exceptionally well and deserved to win, and toward the end of the match, the Boks did seem to fall foul of referee Wayne Barnes, who for most of the match had a good handle on matters.
Rassie’s latest video clip, again prefaced by his subtle praise of the host team and fans, questions Barnes’ interpretations of two incidents, and zeros in on the late
French try which seemed to include an illegal double movement by the hooker.
The video first shows French fullback Thomas Ramos’ forearm striking the head of Bok right wing Cheslin Kolbe, which went unpunished.
Secondly, Erasmus highlights Barnes calling a forward pass on fullback Willie le Roux’s sweeping pass to Damian Willemse on the wing, which for all money seemed 100% fine, and Le Roux’s exasperation and the call is very clear to see.
Erasmus last week posted a video after the Boks’ narrow defeat to Ireland in which he pointed out a number of issues with the refereeing of young Georgian Nika Amashukeli, and this was on his first day back at stadiums after serving a suspension from World Rugby because of his character assassination of Aussie ref Nic Berry after last year’s first Test against the British & Irish Lions.
Popular former Ireland star Shane Horgan responded with a rant about Erasmus and his videos and called on authorities to shut him up once and for all, but Rassie clearly could not care less ...