Rassie defuses row

South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus insisted he would never tolerate racism within his squad after a clip on social media appeared to show black Springbok Makazole Mapimpi frozen out by white teammates.

Erasmus said those who rushed to condemn his side on Twitter had misunderstood a standing joke in the squad that saw the starting XV and replacements split into different groups.

The clip was posted after the Springboks’ 49-3 World Cup thrashing of Italy in Shizuoka on Friday, with Mapimpi, who started against the Azzurri, walking away from a group of white replacement players.

But Mapimpi himself insisted he was doing so because he was not a member of the “bomb squad”, the name given to SA’s matchday replacements, with the wing saying: “There is nothing wrong. We are one.”

Erasmus addressed it on Sunday after naming his side to play Canada in SA’s final Pool B match, saying he was bothered by the negative interpretation of the clip.

“Everybody who has been part of a touring side or a Springbok side knows that in a squad of 31, there are guys who make the matchday 23 and the eight guys outside the 23 are called the ‘dirt-trackers’,” Erasmus said.

“Then you get the starting XV and then the reserves.”

The reserves had been dubbed the “bomb squad” because they either had to fix things on the pitch or “it’s a false alarm and they’re not even going onto the park”.

“It’s a kind of standing joke in the team.”

Erasmus said it was so sad that the clip had been misinterpreted. –