Rassie Erasmus has been banned for two matches by World Rugby and will miss
South Africa’s visit to Twickenham next Saturday following a series of social media
posts that included implicit criticism of Wayne Barnes’ refereeing performance.
Erasmus posted a number of videos highlighting decisions made by Barnes in the
Springboks’ narrow defeat by France last week accompanied by sarcastic comments.
He did similar after South Africa’s defeat by Ireland, continuing his tendency to air
grievances publicly rather than privately with World Rugby.
The Springboks director of rugby has only recently returned to matchday activities
after a 12-month ban for the hour-long video he released during the 2021 British &
Irish Lions tour of South Africa in which he forensically criticised the performance of
the Australian referee Nic Berry.
His latest social media posts have prompted World Rugby to act again, meaning
Erasmus is banned from all matchday activities for Saturday’s fixture against Italy as
well as South Africa’s trip to Twickenham seven days later. He is also suspended from
“engagement with media and social media in relation to match officials”.
A World Rugby statement read: “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. 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.”
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Among the incidents highlighted by Erasmus was one involving France’s Thomas
Ramos handed off Cheslin Kolbe with a forearm to the face as well as Willie le Roux
being penalized for a forward pass. Alongside it he wrote: “I know guys and accept it,
we really only have ourselves to blame as the French were awsome [sic] 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 SA we know.”
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