South Africa’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has cheekily reacted to World Rugby announcing they will clamp down on team staff entering the playing field during rugby matches.
Erasmus copped plenty of criticism, mainly from supporters of and the coaching team of the British and Irish Lions, during last year’s tour of South Africa where the director of rugby acted as a “water-carrier” to pass on advice and information to the Springbok players.
Following the announcement by World Rugby on Tuesday that they were going to trial new regulations which will limit the number of people allowed on the field during matches, Erasmus cheekily responded with a tweet that said he may have to consider his job title in future.
World Rugby, in their statement about the trial, specifically state: “Water-carriers cannot be a Director of Rugby or Head Coach.”
Erasmus had this to say:
Erasmus, who copped a ban from World Rugby for making a video criticising the refereeing performance in the first Boks-Lions Test last year, seems to think he might get away with a change in job title – by going from Director of Rugby or Head Coach (prior to Jacques Nienaber taking over) to “Director of Coaching”.
The new rules governing what water-carriers can and can’t do in future are now clearly stipulated in World Rugby’s statement, with the regulations to come into effect from 1 July.
These are the new “adjustments”:
Medics:
Additional personnel:
Players on the field:
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