Rassie Erasmus apologises after explosive All Blacks outburst
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Apology.
Rassie Erasmus has issued a public apology following his explosive response to All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie during the Springboks’ series with New Zealand.
Erasmus lost his cool following South Africa’s 33-26 victory in Cape Town last weekend after being informed that Rennie had once again questioned the Springboks’ scrum technique.
The All Blacks boss had suggested South Africa were able to “walk around” at scrum time and confirmed New Zealand would provide feedback through the appropriate channels.
Erasmus responded furiously at the time, rejecting the accusation and insisting the Springboks scrum straight.
A week later, following South Africa’s 29-24 victory at FNB Stadium, the Springboks boss moved to draw a line under the controversy.
“I really apologise for that last week – it was not well-mannered, and I apologise,” Erasmus said.
The 53-year-old also praised Rennie following another fiercely contested battle between the two sides, describing his opposite number as a “gentleman”.
“I don’t know how many people know Dave; he is a gentleman.”
The Springboks were awarded a penalty try from a scrum during the third Test, although Erasmus insisted afterwards that he did not believe his side had dominated the set-piece.
“I don’t think we were dominant in the scrums. There were times when it was pretty equal, and things could have gone against us,” he said.
Erasmus also made it clear that he wanted to draw a line under the scrum debate following the third Test.
“Hell, I can tell you we like high balls, and we like the kicking game, and we like mauling, but we would never pick a scrum, so I hope that we parked that now. We parked that now because they scrum-flipped well tonight.
“There were a few scrums where we were under the pump, where we were glad they got the ball out and didn’t keep on scrumming. So you know the changes he made really made a hell of a difference, and if we can park that and just concentrate on, he calls it footy, having some good footy next week.”
South Africa’s victory saw them move 2-1 ahead in the four-Test Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series following back-to-back wins over the All Blacks.
The Boks lost the opening Test 33-16 at Ellis Park before responding with a 33-26 victory in Cape Town and another narrow win in Soweto.
Both teams will now travel to the United States for the fourth and final Test at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore on Saturday.
South Africa cannot lose the series after taking a 2-1 lead, although New Zealand can still secure a 2-2 draw with victory in Baltimore.
