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Rassie Erasmus addresses Mathieu Raynal in surprising 7-word tweet
South African rugby director Rassie Erasmus took to Twitter for a second time on Saturday to express his apparent appreciation for the refereeing of Matthieu Raynal following the Springboks’ loss to the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship at Mount Smart Stadium.
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Despite the painful 35-20 defeat, Erasmus seems to have acknowledged the positive role played by the French referee in the match.
Known for sharing his opinions openly on social media, especially when it comes to discussing match officiating, Erasmus didn’t shy away from commending Raynal’s performance on the field. In the past, the South African rugby boss has used Twitter as a platform to critique refereeing decisions, which has occasionally led to controversy and a number of bans.
One such instance was after the match between France and the Springboks last November, where Erasmus posted numerous videos questioning the decisions made by referee Wayne Barnes. He also imfamously criticized referee Nic Berry’s performance in a test match between the Springboks and the British and Irish Lions in 2021.
Both incidents lead to suspensions.
However, this time around, Erasmus adopted a different tone by genuinely praising Raynal’s handling of the game – or in the very least not criticising it.
His performance was much better than ours https://t.co/NTzIHkjUfw
— Rassie Erasmus (@RassieRugby) July 15, 2023
“His performance was much better than ours,” wrote Erasmus in a quote tweet about the performance of Raynal. While Erasmus has used a sarcastic tone in the past, this time it appears to be a genuine sentiment.
Most people on Twitter took it at face value after an earlier tweet blamed the loss on the himself and his fellowing coaching ticket. While some thought the post was genuine, others reacted as if he was again deploying irony.
Don’t blame the ref for your poor team selection.. Guys like Mbonambi, Malherbe, de Jager, Wiese, de Allende, Mapimpi, Faf are all has been’s.. How can you bench the best hooker in the world and bring on the best players in the second half trailing by 15 points.. Open your eyes
— Arno Becker (@ArnoBecker13) July 15, 2023
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“Don’t blame the ref for your poor team selection.. Guys like Mbonambi, Malherbe, de Jager, Wiese, de Allende, Mapimpi, Faf are all has been’s.. How can you bench the best hooker in the world and bring on the best players in the second half trailing by 15 points.. Open your eyes,” wrote one Springbok fan.
Comments on RugbyPass
The Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
2 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
2 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
2 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
2 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
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