Rassie Erasmus and Nick Mallett in 2018. Photo: Gavin Barker/BackpagePix

Rassie Erasmus and Nick Mallett in 2018. Photo: Gavin Barker/BackpagePix

What Nick Mallett said to spark Rassie rant

Rassie Erasmus said he couldn’t sleep after hearing critical comments from Nick Mallett. Here’s what was said.

Rassie Erasmus and Nick Mallett in 2018. Photo: Gavin Barker/BackpagePix

Rassie Erasmus and Nick Mallett in 2018. Photo: Gavin Barker/BackpagePix

After an extended absence from social media, Rassie Erasmus took to Twitter in the early hours of Saturday morning to blast Mallett for comments made in the latest episode of SuperSport’s panel showFinal Whistle.

Mallett was appearing on the show along with Swys de Bruin, Hanyani Shimange and host Owen Nkumane, and they discussed a range of subjects to do with South African rugby. However, it was the comments Mallett made when specifically looking at the job of Erasmus that seem to have been taken personally by the director of rugby.

When asked by Nkumane about the state of coaching in South Africa, Mallett seemed to suggest that Erasmus was not doing his job well enough.

“That’s part of the director of rugby’s job. That’s Rassie’s job. His job is to bring coaches through and bring referees through. It’s a very big job that he has got,” said Mallett. “He shouldn’t be on social media talking about the Springboks. He should be doing his job properly.”

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What did Rassie say in response?

“I struggled to sleep because I was really upset about your comments last week on the Final Whistle. It is actually just some things you said without any substance behind it,” Erasmus said.

“So Nick, I’m just gonna tell you straight, you don’t know that a rugby director is and what his job is. Obviously, I’m not appointing coaches, I have no authority in appointing coaches.

“The second thing is, I do have a programme running called “The fast tracking of elite black players”, for those who hasn’t had the opportunity in Super Rugby and the United Rugby Championship (URC). We’ve got a sponsor for them and we are proud of that program.

“The thing you guys talk about for 20 minutes of players running sideways, we have EPD systems from U15 where players learn it [running lines]. Some learn it great, some not so great. But I would urge you to go and sit with all the EPD managers, who are running those programmes without any budget,” Rassie added in his rant to Mallett.

“Then when you start saying things like I must get the referees right and I must stop tweeting about the Springboks. Firstly, the Springboks are the most important thing and that is my first priority and I will do anything to make sure the Springboks win. So please don’t [try to] stop me there.

“You say I must bring referees through [the development ranks]. We are bringing referees through the ranks, but it has to be accepted by World Rugby. If you can help in any way there, it would be really, really great of you.

“Nick, I’m not gonna fight with you in any way, I’m just saying between what’s happening on the ground and what you guys are showing and saying on SuperSport, somethere in-between there’s the truth. I would suggest you hang close to that truth because currently you are far away from that truth and you’re missing the ball by quite a distance.

“You know me well. I love you and I thought you were a guy with big inbors [quality]. But unfortunately my man, I will have to rectify you and send you some stats to get this [the truth] out there because you can’t talk this shit to the people.”

Nick Mallett and Rassie Erasmus fighting
Nick Mallett and Rassie Erasmus. Photo: Archives