Rassie defends referee Raynal

While referee Mathieu Raynal got a thumbs-down from fans after South Africa lost to the All Blacks in Auckland, Rassie Erasmus said the Springboks were the masters of their own demise.

The Springboks struggled to adjust to Raynal’s interpretation of the breakdown and missed out on a potential try in the first half after it was adjudged that Cheslin Kolbe had knocked on.

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However, Erasmus defended the French official, admitting that the Springboks were not up to standard in the 35-20 loss at the Mount Smart Stadium.

Poor performance

“His [Raynal] performance was much better than ours,” said Erasmus on social media.

This came after Erasmus said the Bok coaches “made some errors” and congratulated New Zealand for a brilliant first 20 minutes, during which they opened up a 17-point lead.

This story was first published on sarugbymag.co.za. It is republished here with permission.