South African Rugby director Rassie Erasmus and British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland greet each other earlier during the tour. Picture: MB Media/Getty Images
Rassie Erasmus has never believed in conventional thinking and although he may be in hot water over “that video”, he may have pulled off a masterstroke in gamesmanship.
If anything, possible repercussions aside, he has scored a major hit in the ongoing psychological war between himself and British and Irish Lions counterpart Warren Gatland and potentially unsettled the opposition.
But despite Erasmus’ quibbling, rightfully or not, the milk is spilt and it’s time to go out and level a massive Test series and try take the referee out of the equation.
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Fact is, Rassie remains a forerunner in so many aspects of the game and this time, whether he has just taken it a step too far or not, he is one up on Gatland, who seemingly got the better of the media war ahead of the first Test.
I, for one, still don’t buy the notion that Rassie did this “in isolation” and was so well-crafted to the point of almost seeming deliberate.
If anything, it may have also opened up a whole new communication channel with the big wigs in suites that oversee the game.
Players and coaches are held to account for professional standards and performance clauses relating to elite sport – so why should it not apply to match officials as well?
The pain of defeat is never easy to digest and like a golfer is often forced to do after carding a bogey or worse, looking ahead now is the only option.
As much as fans and pundits tried finger-pointing, fact is, the Boks did not lose the first Test because of a referee or TMO – the Lions launched a superb second-half comeback. They out-muscled the Boks, won the physical confrontations and aerial battles and hustled the hosts into making mistakes.
Maybe they have just grown too comfortable with the “World Champions” tag which the Boks will wear until at least 2023, who knows?
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Or perhaps it was just the pent-up frustration of not seeing their national rugby side in action for 18 months and anticipating another world-beating performance against the best that Britain had to throw at them.
After all the banter and psychological games leading up to the first Test, we have to concede a tough-talking Kiwi (Gatland) simply out-psyched a highly-paid “water boy”.
When the pre-match friendly fire ceased, and the battleground moved to the Cape Town Stadium, it was the shrewd Gatland who backed up his banter on the field.
Maybe this time, the “water boy” is the one with the heavier artillery in that department.
Using the golfing analogy again, the Springboks have missed the cut and now have an ideal opportunity to play themselves back into contention and redeem themselves this evening.
An ardent Dutch football supporter reminded me of a sports journalist who once described Dutch football with the following: “Holland are like a beautiful gazelle. Quick, graceful and great to look at. But gazelles eventually get eaten by lions. And the Dutch are no Lions”.
Parity in the wild was certainly restored last Saturday at the Cape Town Stadium – the Lion got the better of the renowned Springbok and the ecosystem is in balance again – for now anyway.
Bring on the second Test please!
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