OPINION: Why Rassie ban isn’t nearly as bad as it seems

The full decision from the World Rugby judicial committee is as follows: Rassie Erasmus is suspended with immediate effect from all rugby activities for two months. He is also suspended from all match-day activities (including coaching, contact with match officials, and media engagement) with immediate effect until 30 September, 2022.

BREAKING: RASSIE SUSPENDED BY WORLD RUGBY

To break it down in more detail, the two-month ban will rule the director of rugby out of any further involvement ahead of this Saturday’s final end-of-year Test against England. However, Erasmus has already been with the team throughout the tour, and most preparations are already complete on the eve of the battle at Twickenham.

He won’t be present as a water carrier or in the coaches box on Saturday, but the Springboks already experienced this throughout the overseas leg of the Rugby Championship – which included back-to-back Tests against the All Blacks.

Officially, Erasmus also won’t be able to conduct any of his wide-ranging roles as director of rugby for the next two months, but by mid-January he will be able to continue with business as usual.

Considering the two-month suspension will be served during an ‘off season’ for the Springboks, and over the festive period, you’d imagine that Erasmus might secretly rather welcome a ‘vacation’ of sorts over the next two months.

RECAP: ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RASSIE VERDICT!

It’s also not yet clear exactly how World Rugby will monitor what Erasmus does or doesn’t do in the privacy of his own home. In his quiet time, he could surely plot, plan and prepare for his return to the ‘office’ as director of rugby in mid-January.

The lengthier suspension will prevent Erasmus from taking part in “all match-day activities with immediate effect until 30 September, 2022”.

It’s this ban that seems particularly severe at face value, but here is how the lengthier suspension has been described in “simple terms”:

(After the two-month suspension) he may then return to his Director of Rugby duties but must continue to serve a ‘match day’ ban until 30 September 2022 which will therefore include the SA Senior Men’s inbound tour by Wales in July and the 2022 Rugby Championship. That ‘match day’ ban will remain in place and covers all Rugby Union at whatever level. It would prohibit, therefore, participation in that way at club or provincial level.

Bear in mind this will allow Erasmus to focus on his primary and multi-faceted role as director of rugby, while he can still assist the Springboks in whatever capacity in the lead-up to all of next year’s Test matches that take place before the end of September 2022.

Erasmus won’t be present on match-day, but this is hardly a make-or-break factor, as was evidenced already this year when the director of rugby didn’t travel to Australia.

An argument could even be made to suggest it would be a good thing for head coach Jacques Nienaber to have full match-day responsibilities to himself for a period of time.

Once the 2022 end-of-year tour rolls around, and the preparation for the 2023 World Cup truly begin to intensify, Erasmus will have served all of his suspensions and be able to fulfil whatever role is decided upon.

As a matter of principle, SA Rugby and Erasmus are appealing the suspensions handed down, but it seems very unlikely it will lead to a reduction in sanction.

The good news is that when truly unpacking the nature of the two bans, it’s not nearly as damaging as it may have appeared at first glance.

READ | RASSIE, SA RUGBY TO APPEAL WORLD RUGBY VERDICT

Read the full Rassie Erasmus 80-page misconduct decision HERE.