Sharks investor calls on World Rugby to heed Rassie’s points

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Marco Masotti, who heads up USA-based consortium MVM Holdings, has thrown his support behind Rassie Erasmus and called on World Rugby to deal with the issues raised in his hour-long video.

This comes after World Rugby confirmed on Monday that both Erasmus and SA Rugby will be facing an independent misconduct hearing for comments the director of rugby made on the performances of the match officials during the Springboks vs British & Irish Lions series.

In the week following the first Test, which the Lions won 22-17, a 62-minute video of Erasmus pointing out errors made by referee Nic Berry was leaked on social media. In the video, Erasmus also raises his concerns with the lack of feedback from both World Rugby and Berry over his decisions.

If found guilty of breaching Regulation 19, Erasmus and SA Rugby could face anything from reprimands to fines or even a forfeit of a Test match.

Masotti, who heads up MVM Holdings, the consortium which has a majority share in the Sharks, posted a playful tweet this week to say: “I have a team of New York lawyers ready to take care of Rassie and SA Rugby. Let us put World Rugby on trial …” 

However, he also confirmed to SARugbymag.co.za on Wednesday that he was very serious about the matter of World Rugby paying attention to the changes that were required.

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“It was a playful tweet. But I want to make the serious point that World Rugby needs to deal with the issues raised by Rassie. We will not get the game to the next level unless we address the game constantly being stopped by three guys looking up at a screen that I can’t see, and sometimes getting it wrong.”

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Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix

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Dylan Jack