Boks often get short end of stick

The world of international rugby, critics might say, is sometimes like a monastic order where a vow of silence is strictly enforced… especially when it comes to criticising the standard of refereeing.

Springbok director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus is, therefore, being almost blasphemous in releasing a public whinge about how unfairly the Boks were treated during their first Test loss to the British & Irish Lions last Saturday.

A long (almost an hour) and detailed (with 26 clips as evidence) video was placed on social media by Erasmus questioning the decisions made by referee Nic Berry and his assistants.

We realise “we wuz robbed!” is the default card losers play and we accept that South Africa were their own worst enemies by running out of steam in the second half and the bench not making an impact – but the Boks have often had the short end of the stick in international encounters.

They are portrayed by many opponents as mindless, dirty thugs and referees often punish them comparatively more severely than other teams guilty of similar behaviour.

It does sometimes feel as though we are playing 16 men on the field – with the rest of the hostile world watching, willing us to fail.