Rassie verdict is in.

First topic message reminder :

Just seen the verdict for Rassie’s misdeeds re his video. Guilty of six charges. Two month ban from all rugby and a 10 month match day ban, starting immediately. Plus a £20000 fine and both SAR and Rassie have been given the waggy finger about future conduct.
Where I’m from, that would be regarded as a full swing in the man veg.

World rugby sending out a message?

Above post edited.

Mikey, be careful with your statements generalising and so on. You can't speak for the whole of the rugby world etc.

It's interesting to see the knock on effect Rassie's video has had on the wider SA rugby community. I follow a lot on social media and there's been a noticeable culture change (pushed by SA Rugby Mag and a number of their hacks) that they are victims of a wider conspiracy and Rassie is this almost messiah figure who's fighting against World Rugby.

Honestly it's pretty wild and has so many correlations to how fans of guys like Trump, BJ and other political figures would speak. This is the lasting damage that Erasmus has done to the game I think.

You do realise these "Trumpescian followers" are but a very small minority of South Africans?

Oh sure, but they have a large presence on social media and that skews other peoples perception I think. Certainly they're the loudest on there.

And you can't deny that SA Rugby Mag and a lot of their contributors have amped up the tone of their coverage to play into this as well, after being given the green light by Rassie's actions.

What he said.

SA Rugby mag and Mark Keohane are the Stephen Jones of SA, they have a particular following.

You're just unlucky that the ratio you see is 98:2.

Old Man wrote:Well, this is a UK site, so the narrative is written by UK citizens, nothing I say is going to matter one iota.

So I will leave it there.

You are in good standing here, so what you say does matter.

While the views on this forum do tend to reflect British and Irish views, there isn't a particular British and Irish take on the Erasmus case. Give or take a few outliers, the only people going into bat for Erasmus now, are South Africans.

When the video came out, you could actually find some British and Irish pundits who regarded it as over the top but still an interesting talking point. They saw it as all part of the cut and thrust of modern coaching. Certainly, there were more condemnatory voices too, including leading figures from the Southern hemisphere.

As time wore on, more criticism started to be levelled at World Rugby, rather than just Erasmus. If Erasmus had shown some contrition, and agreed to an expedited disciplinary procedure, then it's quite possible he would have escaped greater censure. The rugby public would then have given him credit, grudging or otherwise, for a series win, and attention would have turned elsewhere.

If reports are correct, the reason we have such an exhaustive 80 page release from the disciplinary panel, is that Erasmus showed bad faith towards the process from the beginning. The result is that we know an awful lot more about the matter now than we did at the time, and none of it reflects well on the South African director of rugby. As a consequence, SARU also comes out of this whole affair badly, when they could have acted to head it off.

It beggars belief that SARU was prepared to stand by Erasmus in an appeal. Perhaps they finally realized that any further display of bad faith risked incurring a greater sanction.

The irony is that one of the few points on which rugby fans around the world will agree, is how frustratingly poor and inconsistent refereeing can be at times. By not going through legitimate channels, making threats, and raging about a unique injustice which is invisible to rugby supporters who have been on the end of similar, or worse officiating, Erasmus lost any sympathy there might have been for him. Worse, he's lost a lot of moral authority to speak about such matters in the future.

I am sorry but I see a lot of words and excuses about this.  I played rugby for 25 years and had some aweful decisions given against me.  Some that still annnoy me today as a retired player.  But I never whined at the referee on the pitch or on video afterwards.  You took it on the chin and moved on.  I have never heard a coach moan about a decision that went for them, so I don't think you should moan about a decision that goes against you.  Over a season they average up.  The reason why some teams win decisions is that they work that little bit harder and make the 50:50s 51:49s.
Erasmus tried to hang the ref out to dry, presumably in the expectation he could influnce the referee in future games.  I hope that World Rugby act even stricter going forward to protect refs, or else we will have no decent refs left in the game.  As much as I disagree with many decsisions made by refs, there are no refs that i would say are biased or cheated.

Phil wrote:It's interesting to see the knock on effect Rassie's video has had on the wider SA rugby community. I follow a lot on social media and there's been a noticeable culture change (pushed by SA Rugby Mag and a number of their hacks) that they are victims of a wider conspiracy and Rassie is this almost messiah figure who's fighting against World Rugby.

Honestly it's pretty wild and has so many correlations to how fans of guys like Trump, BJ and other political figures would speak. This is the lasting damage that Erasmus has done to the game I think.

The messiah will finally be given a chance to tell his side of the story.

https://www.news24.com/sport/rugby/springboks/ill-be-able-to-share-my-side-of-the-story-rassie-confirms-new-documentary-in-the-works-20211128



https://www.rugbyworld.com/news/rassie-erasmus-apologises-to-nic-berry-and-first-test-match-officials-134244
Statement from SA Rugby and Rassie Erasmus: "We have drawn a line under the incident and only wish to look forward".
“This has been a highly stressful and charged environment with unusual pressures placed on all concerned and we have no wish to prolong that experience for anyone.
“We have drawn a line under the incident and only wish to look forward. We will respect the outcomes of the hearing, allowing our national teams and rugby operations to plan with clarity for the coming months.”


So much for apologies. Only wish to look forward......... to finally giving his side of the story.
World Rugby, stop vilifying our messiah!!

thebandwagonsociety wrote:

Phil wrote:It's interesting to see the knock on effect Rassie's video has had on the wider SA rugby community. I follow a lot on social media and there's been a noticeable culture change (pushed by SA Rugby Mag and a number of their hacks) that they are victims of a wider conspiracy and Rassie is this almost messiah figure who's fighting against World Rugby.

Honestly it's pretty wild and has so many correlations to how fans of guys like Trump, BJ and other political figures would speak. This is the lasting damage that Erasmus has done to the game I think.

The messiah will finally be given a chance to tell his side of the story.

https://www.news24.com/sport/rugby/springboks/ill-be-able-to-share-my-side-of-the-story-rassie-confirms-new-documentary-in-the-works-20211128



https://www.rugbyworld.com/news/rassie-erasmus-apologises-to-nic-berry-and-first-test-match-officials-134244
Statement from SA Rugby and Rassie Erasmus: "We have drawn a line under the incident and only wish to look forward".
“This has been a highly stressful and charged environment with unusual pressures placed on all concerned and we have no wish to prolong that experience for anyone.
“We have drawn a line under the incident and only wish to look forward. We will respect the outcomes of the hearing, allowing our national teams and rugby operations to plan with clarity for the coming months.”


So much for apologies.  Only wish to look forward......... to finally giving his side of the story.
World Rugby, stop vilifying our messiah!!

Rassie as the victim - Seems legit...

It is worth remembering that someone can be good at the day job and a train crash elsewhere in their life.

Yea I see this doing great in SA, they'll eat it up and it'll give them a massive boost going into next year.

Rest of the world will be the same as the rest of it, more bridges burnt and the wider rugby community falling away from what was a brilliant RWC winning side.

You gotta love how the ridicule and condemnation has now spread across to the Bok team and everything SA rugby due to the actions of one man.

Talking of going beyond the call of duty.

He's the figure head, and when the union and captain backs him it's going to happen.

Old Man wrote:You gotta love how the ridicule and condemnation has now spread across to the Bok team and everything SA rugby due to the actions of one man.

Talking of going beyond the call of duty.

Of course this was going to happen OM, especially with the universal SA backing he's received. I'm a big fan of SA rugby, but since the WC win Erasmus has really seemed to go off the rails somewhat. Ignoring his outbursts, the style of rugby has seemingly suffered as well. Perhaps a little break from the scene might be beneficial to both sides.