'Don't be a parasite' warns Erasmus in his latest Twitter message

Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus has posted his latest tweet, defending his use of social media in recent days to highlight his rugby observations and calling on his critics not to be a parasite. The South African rugby director stirred up controversy over the weekend in the wake of his team’s latest tour loss, the 30-26 defeat to France in Marseille.

Erasmus posted a series of six video clips highlighting how he felt his team had suffered an alleged injustice in the French loss that came seven days after they had been beaten by Ireland in Dublin.

His latest criticisms, though, appear to have reached a tipping point, causing a huge divide on Twitter between people vehemently supporting what he has done and those who feel he has taken things too far on this occasion.

Erasmus has now written a 55-word message advising what those people who disagree with him can do. “Guys, please free to block or mute me. It’s really not a problem and better for our health,” he began.

“Sorry if any of the tweets were offending you!! Also, if you don’t agree with my tweets please ignore them and don’t use for clickbait, man. Use your own tweets and stuff. Don’t be a parasite. Lekka.”

The end-of-year four-game Springboks European tour - which next features a match versus Italy - is Erasmus’ first matchday involvement with the South African national team since his ban last November following the infamous 62-minute video filmed after their first Test of the Lions series in July 2021 criticising the match officials.

His latest video series began with a sarcastic message about fixing fundamental errors like tackle technique and simple passing. He then reflected on the Deon Fourie yellow card before commenting on the actions of Gael Fickou, footage of the respective No9s under pressure, and also “optical illusion” passes.

An earlier text message had explained what he was up to with his video series and what he was looking to achieve. “Just working through the game and all the lessons we can take from it… and see some learnings that can educate us and shows the opposite please share with us! Will keep them coming so our South Africans understand where we are at!!”