So this time Rassie Erasmus has gone nuclear.
It was one thing acting as a water boy without the water, another to post videos highlighting supposed skulduggery by Owen Farrell, another again to retweet and publicly engage with the infamous Jaco Johan Twitter account and yet another again to hold court, at times very amusingly, in front of the media at the Springboks' team announcement with head coach Jacques Nienaber on Tuesday.
But the latest offering, his hour-plus video rant, incorporating 26 perceived refereeing injustices in last Saturday’s first Test defeat by the British & Irish Lions, goes several levels beyond all of that. It’s enthralling viewing, in a car crash kind of way, but there’s more than a little GUBU about it all.
Perhaps not grotesque, but Rassie’s Rant is somewhat unbelievable and certainly bizarre and unprecedented. Quite simply, there’s never been anything quite like it in the history of the game.
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Erasmus, as he claims, undoubtedly did this video in his “personal capacity” as opposed to it being sanctioned by SA Rugby or anyone else. That much is reaffirmed by the lack of editing. But it’s entirely disingenuous for him to also wonder aloud where this might be going. “Everywhere” is the word you were looking for Rassie.
For sure he has a deep sense of grievance, acutely so. This appears to have begun with perhaps feeling a little outsmarted by Warren Gatland last week when the issue of a South Africa TMO was highlighted and it was assuredly underlined when the TMO, Marius Jonker, disallowed Willie le Roux's try.
His frustration with World Rugby’s tardy response appears palpable and genuine. But, even if he was entirely right in all 26 examples, he has gone way over the top. Ultimately, it’s more than a little sad and even a little worrying on several levels.
There are undoubtedly some legitimate points in Rassie’s Rant but, even allowing for his role as South African director of rugby and a proud Springbok, it is hopelessly one-sided. You’d swear the Springboks, historically the purveyors of the most brutally physical rugby the Test game has ever known, were purer than the driven snow themselves. And if only their rugby was as entertaining as their director of rugby.
If Erasmus wants to highlight a wrongdoing, he need only look at the first two minutes of the second Test 12 years ago, when Schalk Burger gouged Luke Fitzgerald on the ground and was merely yellow-carded.
No referee, or team of officials, ever gets everything right in any game. The laws are too complex and open to interpretation. Any coach could post a video after a loss and highlight erroneous decisions at the expense of his team. But no coach has ever had the poor grace to do so, until now, and as a result Erasmus has declared open season on officials in a sport that once upon a time prided itself on showing them respect.
At one point, Erasmus even encourages the Lions to follow suit by posting a retort on video. Could you imagine the consequences if every team went down this route?
The microscope
As it is, what referee on earth would swap places with Ben O'Keefe and his team of officials come 6pm local time (5pm Irish) on Saturday at the Cape Town Stadium? They have been put under the microscope like no other officials in rugby history.
What Erasmus has done this past week is utterly disrespectful to the match officials and, frankly, is a little childish, for above all he comes across as a very sore loser.
One wonders how it will all go down in South Africa where Erasmus is king of his own castle. While the official Springboks’ website makes no mention of the video, the SARugby magazine posted the video with accompanying headlines: ‘Rassie calls for fairness: I’ll step away if need be.’ ‘Rassie: Boks were not shown same respect as Lions.’
‘Watch: Illegal scrumming & mauling (1st Test)’.
There was a largely supportive opinion piece under the heading: ‘Rassie picks cause to fight for, regardless of consequences’ with the strapline ‘Rassie Erasmus’ hour-long video is sure to divide opinions, but one way or another he has thrown down the gauntlet to World Rugby and officials’.
They also ran an opinion poll in which 84.77% ticked the box which read: “Perfectly justified. Erasmus was correct to call out the inconsistencies and World Rugby’s lack of feedback.”
Supersport, without citing the Erasmus video, implored: “All the Boks want is a level playing field in terms of reffing.”
Outside of South Africa though, despite his wonderful achievement in guiding the Springboks to the World Cup, Erasmus will have lost a huge amount of respect, with the widespread reaction being that he has simply lost the plot. He has undermined the efforts of Joel Jutge, Joe Schmidt and others in World Rugby to improve the game, which had incorporated a determined desire to bring international head coaches into the discussion.
Is this really the same Erasmus who presided over Munster with such dignity in the aftermath of Anthony Foley's passing and who spoke so eloquently and movingly at regular intervals in the captivating Chasing the Sun documentary, of which he was very much the heartbeat?
Clever man
Of course, as that documentary also demonstrated, Erasmus is a very clever man, uber competitive with a ruthless streak, emotional and capable of anger, as well as being mischievous.
There was a glimpse of that classy Erasmus with that message sent directly to the Lions’ twitter account after the first Test congratulating them with the words: “No excuses this side! You are far away from home, families and going through same tough Covid protocols like we do! Congrats and well deserved!”
It’s hard not to reread those sentiments and laugh now. Indeed it has been a tough time for everyone, and maybe this has all been part of some kind of Erasmus master plan designed to, who knows, engender an us-against-the-world mentality within the Boks.
But, coupled with his offer to stand down as SA Rugby’s director of rugby, it has also been a wildly erratic chain of utterances, outpourings and performances. In all of this you genuinely would be concerned for Erasmus’ wellbeing. With each passing day he is looking profoundly stressed.
All that was missing at the end of Rassie’s Rant was: “I’ll tell you, honestly, I will love it if we beat them, love it!”
