The Springboks will be without two of their stalwarts for the rest of the year after both Rassie Erasmus and Pieter-Steph du Toit received match bans.
World Rugby has set a president. You are not allowed to criticize referees on their performance, no matter how inconsistent the officiating.
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The World Rugby statement reads:
“Match officials are the backbone of the sport, and without them, there is no game. World Rugby condemns any public criticism of match official selection, performance or integrity, which undermines their role, the trust-based coach/match officials feedback process and the values of integrity, respect, solidarity and discipline that are at the heart of the sport.”
What did Rassie Erasmus post?
Erasmus sent out a series of tweets following the Springboks’ 26-30 defeat to France on Saturday evening. According to Rassie, his tweets were for Springbok supporters “so our South African fans can understand”.
I know guys and accept it, we really only have ourselves to blame as the French were awsome both on the field (players)and off the field (supporters)!! We just have to fix these fundamental errors like tackle technique and simple passing 👇🏿Sorry 🇿🇦 we know 💔 pic.twitter.com/hte6ggyXk9
— Rassie Erasmus (@RassieRugby) November 12, 2022
Deon copping a lot of flack for this yellow card, to be honest I also thought the Blue 16 detached and maul over, we just have to work harder and make sure we understand the rules correctly! Very costly 🟨 ! We deserve all the criticism!! Sorry 🇿🇦 💔 pic.twitter.com/vyBTf5dUXO
— Rassie Erasmus (@RassieRugby) November 13, 2022
This so clever by Fickou, the way he moves and presents himself on our side of the ruck has no influence on our speed of the ball from the ruck !! We can certainly learn from this !! Sorry 🇿🇦💔 pic.twitter.com/nCisruylk4
— Rassie Erasmus (@RassieRugby) November 13, 2022
Both the 🇫🇷 and 🇿🇦 9’s under immense pressure !! We just have to get that on side right!!Sorry 🇿🇦💔 pic.twitter.com/srzoaBjm89
— Rassie Erasmus (@RassieRugby) November 13, 2022
Guys at this level their is no chance that this was not reviewed, the chances of communications going down at that specific moment is 1/100min of broadcasting! So in our view fair try after proper review by experienced Barnsy and his team! No quarrels from our side!! https://t.co/QvoGW2DFNL
— Rassie Erasmus (@RassieRugby) November 13, 2022
Learning!! Those long passes just have an optical illusion attached to it, we will work hard at it!! 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/T76fdJk4y1
— Rassie Erasmus (@RassieRugby) November 13, 2022
Xolo asisiva isiFrench pic.twitter.com/3XIgtD9asz
— Rassie Erasmus (@RassieRugby) November 14, 2022
The Statement from World Rugby further read:
“World Rugby has reviewed the recent social media posts by SA Rugby Director of Rugby, Rassie Erasmus that relate to match officiating in the Autumn Nations Series.
“The behaviour of coaching staff and match officials are widely observed by fans, media and participants at every level, and such behaviours affect how the values are applied across the game.”
Rassie will not be allowed to “take part in any match day activity” in the Springboks’ remaining two tests. He will also not be allowed to engage with the media and social media “in relation to match officials”.
Pieter-Steph du Toit avoids a lengthy ban
The Springboks giant, Pieter-Steph du Toits’ sanction is very similar to Rassie Erasmus’ ban. The loose forwards squeaky clean record saw him escape a potential six-match ban.
The 2019 World Rugby men’s Player of the Year had a red card shown his way just 11-minutes into the test.
Related article – Pieter-Steph du Toit unlucky to see red
The World Rugby Independent Disciplinary Committee gathered earlier this week to rule on Pieter-Steph’s actions. The Committee was chaired by Australia’s Stephen Hardy and joined by the former International coach Frank Hadden and former Wallaby, John Langford. They found that the Springbok loose forward’s actions were “reckless” and not intentional or deliberate.
Although they did acknowledge that external factors were identified, it did not justify downgrading the sanction to a yellow card.
In a statement released by SA Rugby, they confirmed that Du Toit was en route to a lengthy ban.
“Given Du Toit’s offending involved head contact with an opposition player, the judicial committee applied World Rugby’s mandatory minimum mid-range entry point for foul play in breach of Law 9.11 resulting in contact with the head.
“This resulted in a starting point of a six-week/match suspension.”
The committee reduced the action because of “mitigating factors” like his “remorse, contrition, exemplary prior disciplinary record and conduct during the hearing”. That saw the ban halved to three weeks.
The penalty could be reduced to two weeks if Du Toit attends the Coaching Intervention Programme.
That will see PSDT miss the Springboks test against Italy on Saturday, 19 November, and the test against England on 26 November. The third match Du Toit is set to miss out on will be confirmed.
