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Erasmus goes after Lions player's 'reckless and dangerous' act
By Ian Cameron
Rassie Erasmus has gone after British & Irish Lions prop Mako Vunipola on Twitter after an eventful 24 hours on social media for the Springboks Director of Rugby.
It is widely surmised on Twitter that Erasmus had been using a burner account called 'Jaco Johan' to highlight issues surrounding the game, despite having magnanimously said that the Springbok had 'no excuses' following the 22 - 17 defeat in the first Test with the Lions.
Erasmus had been applauded for writing on his own account: "No excuses this side! You are far away from home, families and going through same tough covid protocols like we do! Congrats and well deserved!"
However, the former Munster head coach then starting highlighting issues he wasn't happy with, this morning going after Vunipola following an incident with Cheslin Kolbe. Vunipola lifted Kolbe, abruptly 'helping him' up after he had landed heavily following a contest for the ball with Ali Price. Referee Nic Berry could be heard saying 'Don't touch him, don't touch him'.
Erasmus wrote: "Cheslin is obviously played in the air and clearly not direct into touch!!More importantly for youngsters watching this clip!!!! Please never move or touch an injured player on the ground, its reckless and dangerous! Leave this to the
It comes after Erasmus retweeted a post from an anonymous user showing some “questionable calls” by the officials against the world champions.
As part of the retweet, Erasmus adds: “Thanks. This is rugby – sometimes calls go for you and other times they don't”.
In a twist, the anonymous poster named ‘Jaco Johan’ uses the same type of graphics – a yellow circle – to highlight the alleged foul play as Erasmus does on his official account.
Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber had said that he was happy with the officials following the match.
“I completely trust the officials, that is their jobs, they are the professionals in that field,” he said. “They are in a better position and have many angles to look at. Sometimes these calls go against you, as we found out today. In the second half we had three try scoring opportunities, twice we were called back. Those is the small margins in this game.”
- additional reporting, PA
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Latest Comments
I thought you meant in europe. Because all of the reasons theyre different I wouldn't correlate that to mean for europe, as in french broadcasters pay two or three times as much as the UK or SA broadcasters do, like they do for their league.
With France, it's not just about viewers, they are also paying much more. So no doubt there will be a hit (to the amount the French teams receive for only playing a fraction of it) but they may not care too much as long as the big clubs, the top 8 for example, enter the meaty end, and it wouldn't have the same value to them as the top14 contract/compensation does. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the 3 separate networks broadcast deals only went to the clubs in their regions as well (that's how SR ended up (unbalanced) I believe).
Go to commentsHis best years were 2018 and he wasn't good enough to win the World Cup in 2023! (Although he was voted as the best player in the world in 2023)
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