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Rassie Erasmus issues public apology and offers view on referee O'Keeffe
Springboks Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus has shared a public apology on Twitter in the wake of South Africa’s 13-8 loss to Ireland.
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Expectations were high for the Springboks after riding a six-game winning streak into the highly anticipated clash with the world’s number one ranked side.
But the defending champions fell short in a gladitorial battle where defence restricted both sides to a try apiece.
Goal kicking separated the two sides with scrumhalf Faf de Klerk missing two long-range attempts inside his own half and flyhalf Mannie Libbok missing one conversion and one penalty.
Ireland scored six second half points on two scrum penalties to take a 13-8 lead which they held onto when South Africa’s final maul attempt failed.
Erasmus congratulated Ireland for the win and issued a public apology to South Africa with a promise to “work harder and make you proud”.
The former head coach also added his opinion on referee Ben O’Keeffe, writing “also nice to be involved in a game so intense and physical without the referee getting too much involved!”
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“Well done Ben and your team.”
Congrats to the Irish and sorry🇿🇦!We will just work harder and make you proud! Also nice to be involved in a game so intense and physical without the referee getting too much invloved! Well done Ben and your team.Thank you🇿🇦 for all the support was really lekka !! (maar hartseer)
— Rassie Erasmus (@RassieRugby) September 24, 2023
South Africa are still in a strong position to qualify for the quarter-finals after beating Scotland in the opening week.
They face Tonga in their final game but have all but secured qualification barring a miraculous turn of events from Scotland, who need to beat Ireland handsomely, restricting them to no losing bonus points, and secure bonus point wins over Tonga and Romania.
Should Pool A finish with France on top, South Africa will draw the hosts in a quarter-final to be played at the same venue, Stade de France in Paris.
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Belief is still high within the Springboks camp that they can replicate their deeds from 2019, where they went on to win the World Cup after losing a pool game to New Zealand.
“Yeah, we can still (win the tournament). Obviously you have to (believe). We’re in this competition to win it,” head coach Jacques Nienaber said.
“Teams that lose a game in the pool stages must work hard to get out of the pool, so definitely we can still win it.
“We played against the number one team in the world and we lost by five points and we had opportunity in the 79th minute to get a result.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Whether true or not, all the best to you Sam Cane. A warrior of a player and a loyal servant to the ABs! Go get you some yen and have some fun.
1 Go to commentsThe game was changing too much with teams trying to role the dice drawing fouls. Would be better if scrums and the adjudicating problems were resolved but this is a good immediate fix.
37 Go to commentsLike many here I am encouraged by this post. Our forwards are where the real rewards and improvements must come from. With a 50/50 pack against any opposition, our backs could ensure more than 50% of the games will be won. We need Valetini at 6 and Cale at 8 to make the most or a good tight 5, McWright will add to the effectiveness of the pack BUT must get a very good tight 5 out there first.
97 Go to commentsThe key point I think that is missing is that if Joseph wants to guarantee a Lions spot, he really has to play wing in his first year. He is easily going to nail down whatever he wants to do, but with just half a season, how much of a factor he proves to be in the Lions series could be dictated by this initial choice of playing position.
8 Go to commentsthe game was 2 weeks before the challenge cup final. I really don’t believe they needed to rest that many players.
1 Go to commentsI really feel like neither of the Vunipolas is given the respect they deserve. I would have liked to see both of them get a few more caps than they have gotten in the past couple of years, but unfortunately the fact that they both peaked young has meant that for a number of years they have been perceived as disappointments. When they are both retired, in the cold light of day they will be recognised as two of the best players of their generation of any nation.
2 Go to commentsthis generation of saracens players could produce some really incredible coaches. When Farrell retires he could walk into any premiership team as a defence, attack, or kicking coach. Itoje could make it as a defence or a lineout coach, and Jamie George as a lineout or scrum coach. The problem the Vunipolas are going to have is that its not clear what their coaching speciality would be. Neither are great in the set piece, and while they were good in attack and defence, they were never tactical masterminds. Perhaps contact skills would be their ideal brief? Mako perhaps could work in strength & conditioning, but Billy has a bit of a reputation for not taking that side of the game seriously.
2 Go to commentsA very good player.We are finally getting some balance in our team. Plummer..Heem ..Lam a solid..experienced combo who take the sensible options consistently. Clarke was a grt impact of the bench option until Lam moved to 13 to replace an injured Reiko. Cotter is doing a grt job building his team. .
1 Go to commentsSaturday was last straw. Terrible record in Premiership since Jan 23. Capitulation against Bath at home. There are 3 conclusions. Players aren't good enough. Coaching team aren't good enough or combination of both.
2 Go to commentsAs you say in your article Brett, the point was Hamish and his vanity - plain and simple. The crazy bit is that sua’ali’i has to be probably twice the player of mark N, no easy feat, just for RA to get their money's worth!?! And as you say, tahs aren't short of wingers, props on the other hand id like to see $1.6m spent on. I still shake my head at the absolute carry on in the media and comments section around the boon of getting sua’ali’i and the revenue it'd generate. It was all such hogwash imo and short sighted, real sugar hit stuff. And wasnt Waugh (and others) on the board at the time this money was spent? You say silver bullet, I'd say sugar hit but without the flavour.
8 Go to commentsNZR should play hard all a bit with some of these players and make them sign up to the next world cup. If they won’t, offer it to someone who will. Because what happens is the NH (especially France) swoop on a bunch of nz players coming off contract, weakening their depth, and nz scrambles less than 2 years out trying to get replacements up to speed.
1 Go to commentsNo thanks. Savea almost always leaves easy points out there and goes for the corner, no matter how many times it’s not working. He claimed he took “the learnings” from this when he kept making the same mistake against the Boks a few years ago. Then went out the very next week and did the same thing and SA snatched victory because of it. Years later he still does it, right up to and including the world cup final. Great player, not so great rugby nous.
10 Go to commentsIt certainly wasn't a rhetorical masterpiece coming from big E …. (just as a side remark: Eben is the better player, Siya by far the better talker - maybe that's why they don't seem to like each other very much) …. but could we please move on?
69 Go to commentsMan who wasn't there and hasn't held a conversation with those who were present weighs in on dead rubber debate and is presented as representative of the Irish Rugby Union’s spokesperson on subject he has no apparent knowledge of whatsoever.
69 Go to commentsanybody who bends at the waist when they tackle
5 Go to commentsThe evidence is not strong that this is necessary. Mounga choked on clutch kicks in the WRC final and lost the match by not performing his core goal kicking role to the level required. He also choked in the Semi final against England and was targeted as the weak point in the defence allowing them to score. Not a test great frankly. Why bend the rules for a player that is competent but not brilliant at test level?
11 Go to commentsDear Robbie, Please return to the Crusaders next season. Sincerely, Scott
1 Go to commentsDid the big E call the Irish the ‘White Can’ts’? That would’ve been good
69 Go to commentsDalton Papalii will be lucky to be selected on the Matchday 23. Ardie Savea, Ethan Blackadder, Luke Jacobson, and Peter Lauki are all as good or better openside flankers
10 Go to commentsScott Barrett is a lock and they have a much longer shelf life than a loose forward. Far more likely that Barrett will still demand a starting position based on performance at age 33 at RWC 2027 than Savea, whose explosive athleticism will have declined and he will in all likelihood have been surpassed by Hoskins Sotutu, Wallace Siti, Peter Lauki and Brayden Iose.
10 Go to comments