Nick Mallett says Rassie Erasmus is to blame for the Springboks being the “least-liked team in the world” and not getting the 50-50 calls from referees.
Erasmus was on Thursday evening handed a second consecutive stadium ban from World Rugby in the wake of his latest social media rants.
World Rugby issued a statement on Thursday in response to Erasmus’ recent criticism of officiating in the Boks’ defeats to Ireland and France.
Erasmus had only made his first appearance at a stadium in Dublin two weeks ago, since completing a match-day ban handed down by World Rugby for criticising match officials during last year’s British & Irish Lions series. However, he will now miss the remaining outgoing tour games against Italy in Genoa and England in London.
Writing in a column for Sport24, former Bok coach Mallett says Erasmus’ targeting of referees has inadvertently caused the Boks to be on the wrong end of narrow officiating decisions.
“Unfortunately, I’m convinced that the reason we’re not getting good calls in those moments is because he keeps pointing them out and keeps on showing refereeing incompetence,” wrote Mallett.
“It goes right back to 2018 and that tackle on Andre Esterhuizen against England at Twickenham where, in the aftermath of that loss, Erasmus came out with a video sarcastically teaching Esterhuizen a new tackling technique, telling him he wasn’t going high enough.
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“World Rugby has a whole list of instances where Rassie has expressed dissatisfaction through social media.
“If he continues to do this, I believe we are guaranteed to continue to get bad calls from referees. There is no question that the officials are aware of these tactics and trying to protect themselves.
“Why should they give an advantage to a team that has sought to embarrass them through their director of rugby?
“You might win a battle where South Africans think you are being funny or clever, but the war will be lost because, ultimately, you are doing more harm than good with this approach of constant criticism.”
KEO: Rassie’s rotten referee rants deserve to be ridiculed
Will the Boks bring the high-flying Azzurri back to earth when they clash on Saturday? @mark_keohane and Zels offer their picks ahead of the clash.pic.twitter.com/L0sDAnDI8y
— SA Rugby magazine (@SARugbymag) November 17, 2022
Photo: Gallo Images
