Yahoo Finance British and Irish Lions: Rassie Erasmus says Warren Gatland compromised rugby’s integrity over TMO
South Africa Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus has denied that he runs the Jaco Johann Twitter account with which he has been interacting – and said the Lions’ comments about TMO Marius Jonker last week compromised the integrity of the game.
Erasmus has been unusually active on social media lately, using Twitter to accuse Mako Vunipola of “reckless and dangerous” behaviour, and to highlight foul play by the Lions in their first Test victory.
He has taken to sharing detailed videos posted by the mysterious Jaco Johan, who he claims is “a big supporter of us” who has “been feeding me some really good tips for a while now”.
Erasmus appeared at the Springboks’ team announcement press conference in order to shield Jacques Nienaber, the Head Coach, from questions about his social media activity.
“That’s actually why I’m at the press conference, sorry to Jacques but I knew he was probably going to get that question,” he said.
“No I’m actually not Jaco Johan, I’m Rassie Erasmus. I actually follow Jaco Johan, he’s a big supporter of us. He’s been feeding me some really good clips for a while now, things that I’ve actually used in the past. He’s a very big supporter, a really funny guy and I quite enjoy the things that he does.”
Erasmus went on to accuse the Lions of bringing the integrity of the game into question when they queried the appointment of Jonker – a South African whose son plays for the Sharks – as Television Match Official when New Zealand’s Brendon Pickerill was unable to travel due to the pandemic.
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Warren Gatland feared he could favour the home team, but in fact a number of tight calls went the Lions’ way.
“In the past we’ve found that when we talk in the media too much it normally backfires for us,” said Erasmus, talking in the media.
“Warren talked last week about Marius Jonker, Warren is a great guy, I’ll tell you straight up, I always enjoy his company, he’s a good man.
“But it was weird for me that people would question Marius’ integrity. Say this weekend, [referee] Ben O’Keefe is a New Zealander and Warren is also a New Zealander, we would never say that. It wouldn’t sit well.
“The whole integrity of the game would be questioned, and we would never do that.
“What we are trying to do is find out from World Rugby exactly some decisions which we got wrong and some things we could have done better in the game. That’s what we’re focusing on. We are trying to incorporate that this afternoon in the training session.”
Erasmus concluded that his own questioning of the referees’ decision-making did not compromise the spirit of the game.
“If somebody goes and micro-analyses every decision that’s not been taken, I think that’s awful, you can’t do that,” he said. “The referee only has two pairs of eyes.
“But I think if you analyse the things that he’s supposed to see, I think you’re then actually spot-on with the integrity of the game.”
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