Matfield on Rassie’s tweets: ‘It’s not a good look’

Former Springboks captain Victor Matfield has urged SA Rugby to take a stand against Rassie Erasmus, who has yet again been banned from rugby activities by World Rugby.

World Rugby imposed a two-match ban on Rassie, after he posted a series of tweets seemingly highlighting inconsistent refereeing decisions by Englishman Wayne Barnes in the highly-charged encounter between the Springboks and France in Marseille. 

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It was Eramsus’ second suspension for the same indiscretion in less than a year, after he was banned last November for making and releasing a video in which he pointed out every mistake Australian referee Nic Berry made during the Springboks’ first Test against the British and Irish Lions.

Speaking to News24‘s Lynn Butler at the inaugural Gary and Vivienne Player Invitational at Sun City, Matfield revealed that he’d like to see SA Rugby follow World Rugby’s lead by making an example of Rassie Erasmus.

IT’S TIME SA RUGBY DOES SOMETHING ABOUT ERASMUS

“I think so, we’re in a position where Rassie is our director of rugby and he is the face of SA Rugby. Rassie has been tapped on the fingers twice from the (World Rugby) and SA Rugby is saying nothing.”

“Either SA Rugby must stand with Rassie and say that they’ll back him 100 percent or someone from SA Rugby needs to talk to [him] and make him stop what he is doing.

“SA Rugby has to decide what they need to do, but it’s not looking good in the world for SA Rugby and it doesn’t help with the referees, we’ll probably get worse decisions every week.”

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Matfield irate at off field drama surrounding Springboks

With 127 Test caps to his name, amassed between 2001 and 2015, Matfield is one of the all-time great Springbok players. But the veteran former lock has now expressed his about the culture within the team, following a spade of unflattering headlines in recent weeks.

“My thoughts are that it should always be about rugby. Yes, we want to see our Springbok players in the masses, but they need to perform. As long as they perform on the field, we can’t say anything and I think that’s something we need to focus on,” said Matfield.

“Normally, you need a good culture off the field to help mirror it on the field. But that’s something they need to prioritise and focus on,” explained Matfield.

“My thoughts are that it should always be about rugby. Yes, we want to see our Springbok players in the masses, but they need to perform. As long as they perform on the field, we can’t say anything and I think that’s something we need to focus on,” said Matfield.

“Normally, you need a good culture off the field to help mirror it on the field. But that’s something they need to prioritise and focus on,” Matfield added.

The Springboks are scheduled to play England at Twickenham in their final game of the season before next year. South Africa have lost two of three Test on this European tour, against Ireland and France. They dismantling Italy 63-21 in Genoa last weekend.

Rassie Eramsus has already served one week of his ban, which will be completed this coming weekend when the Springboks play England. However, new reports have surfaced indicating that World Rugby could yet take more action against the wayward SA Rugby director of rugby.

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