Rassie Erasmus addresses gestures made to crowd from coaches' box

Rassie Erasmus moved to play down suggestions that he was responding to Irish hecklers after appearing to aim a sarcastic thumbs up at the Aviva Stadium crowd during South Africa’s 24-13 win over Ireland.

The Springboks boss was caught on the TV feed gesturing towards the stands as he stepped out of the coaches’ box after a bad-tempered contest that was heavy on niggle and face-to-face spats. The optics suggested he was giving a parting shot to the home crowd. Erasmus insisted that wasn’t the case.

“There were South Africans sitting in front of us saying, ‘Thank you’,” insisted Erasmus. “The coaches’ box, I remember when I coached Munster here, the box is soundproof, you can’t really get the vibe of what is going on. On the field, you get it through the referee’s mic more or less.

“This is a special stadium. The crowd is special. They have got manners when the kicker kicks. I love the way pre-match of the military band; I am glad they have RG (Snyman) a bit of a welcoming when he ran onto the field.

“It [the thumbs up] was a thank you to our people, and we have respect for the way Irish people support their team because it was 19 games on the trot that they have won here, so for our guys, thank you for the support.”

Erasmus’ side had earlier survived a spell when Ireland were down to 12 players, grinding out their first win in Dublin in 13 years.

South Africa get the job done in Dublin 🔥

Reckon Rassie Erasmus enjoyed that one? 😅 pic.twitter.com/fnMSFB5HeW

— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) November 22, 2025

The fractious nature of the match ensured the post-game narrative was always going to include off-field flashpoints, but Erasmus was quick to swat this one aside.

It’s clear, whoever the gesture was aimed at, that there was no lack of relief upon the game ending for the Springboks.

“It was a great win against a team like Ireland, who have dominated against us since we’ve been together as a group,” Erasmus said. “If you look back at the last five games, they’re still 3-2 up against us, so we won’t get carried away with the result – but the beer tastes a little better.

“We’re thankful to finally beat them here. It’s been a long season, and a lot of the players go straight back to Japan or the URC next week. We’re proud we could grind out a win in Dublin for the first time in 13 years.”

Indeed, moments after referee Matt Carley blew for full-time, Rassie Erasmus jumped straight onto X to fire off a message to his adoring South African supporters.

“Love you,” he wrote, barely seconds after the game had wrapped.