The latest odds ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France have been updated less than a month ahead of the tournament. Photo by Geoff Caddick / AFP
Rassie Erasmus breaks Twitter silence
After several months of silence on social media, SA director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has offered an interesting comment on Twitter.
The latest odds ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France have been updated less than a month ahead of the tournament. Photo by Geoff Caddick / AFP
Over the last couple of years, Rassie Erasmus has used Twitter – in particular – to share many videos and opinions, which most recently included a lengthy voice note hitting out at former Springbok coach Nick Mallett for perceived criticisms that he levelled at the director of rugby.
However, Erasmus had not made another post since 11 February, when he shared that message to Mallett.
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With the director of rugby having also run into trouble with World Rugby for some social media posts last year, he recently suggested that he was going to take a break from Twitter.
Yet, on Sunday night, he broke his silence to state: “Don’t believe everything you hear, probably all I can say!”
It’s not clear what he was referring to, but there were reports on Sunday that suggested Erasmus was considering installing Duane Vermeulen as the Springboks’ next defence coach.
It was suggested that Vermeulen could be deployed initially in a player-coach role this year, before evolving into a more permanent position.
In another recent edition of Rapport newspaper, it was also interestingly reported that Erasmus himself is likely to take on the head coaching role once again until at least 2025, which is when his current contract runs until.
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RASSIE IS DETERMINED TO ENSURE THE SPRINGBOKS HAVE THE TOOLS TO SUCCESSFULLY DEFEND THEIR WORLD CUP TITLE
In order to improve communication with World Rugby and officials, Erasmus has wanted to recruit a ‘referee expert’ to serve as the middle man between the Springboks and World Rugby when it comes to discussing key issues.
“I don’t want to talk myself into a hole again here,” Rassie commented in a recent interview. “We basically felt we have to repair this because obviously there’s not a great relationship (with referees and World Rugby). We want to reset that. It’s a genuine need for us to change.”
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And when Erasmus was specifically asked if he would be deleting Twitter at the World Cup to avoid running into any trouble, he admitted he was staying off the platform.
“Errr… let’s open it up when everyone is nice and calm about everything,” he stated. “I’ll keep quiet, my mum is on my case!”
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SPRINGBOKS’ 2023 FIXTURES
Rugby Championship
8 July: Springboks vs Australia (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria)
✈ 15 July: South Africa vs New Zealand (Mount Smart, Auckland)
29 July: Springboks vs Argentina (Ellis Park, Johannesburg)
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World Cup warm-ups
✈ 5 August: South Africa vs Argentina (Vélez Stadium, Buenos Aires)
✈ 19 August: South Africa vs Wales (Millennium Stadium, Cardiff)
✈ 25 August: Springbok vs New Zealand (Twickenham Stadium, London)
RUGBY WORLD CUP
✈ 10 September: South Africa vs Scotland (Stade Vélodrome, Marseille)
✈ 17 September: Springbok vs Romania (Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux)
✈ 23 September: South Africa vs Ireland (Stade de France, Saint-Denis, Paris)
✈ 1 October: South Africa vs Tonga (Stade Vélodrome, Marseille)
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