While barbs have been flying to and fro during the lead up to the test series against Ireland next month, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus had a simple message for it all: Let’s spice it up!
Erasmus was responding to a question about the comments made from Simon Zebo, former Munster player, who said in a podast that “Rassie hates the Irish” but then contacted Erasmus to apologise.
It all started with an interview with World Rugby’s Jim Hamilton where Bok midfielder Damian de Allende said that the Boks were aiming to get “some respect back” after their loss to Ireland at the World Cup and that the Irish should expect “war”.
Earlier Eben Etzebeth had hinted that Irish players were overconfident after their Pool game win over the Boks.
Zebo added fuel to the fire with his response to De Allende’s point on a podcast the week after.
“To be fair, to his point, I think the media did get a bit out of control here with the hopes and expectations,” he said.
“Rassie hates the Irish; he really, really doesn’t like us, which is quite funny. It will build up even more and it drip feeds into the players. RG Snyman has been copping a little bit of slack over it.
“There is a really, really big rivalry there, and it’s bubbling. It’s mainly the Irish media’s fault. I think it’s based in Dublin, not the Irish media down here where I am (at Munster).
“It’s going to be a juicy test series, that’s for sure.”
LAUGHING IT OFF
Erasmus laughed off the jibes, saying that Zebo had messaged him about it.
“On the Simon Zebo thing, he messaged me after it happened and anyone who knows him knows he is a joker. He makes a joke every chance he gets - a crack here and there,” Erasmus said.
“He immediately messaged me and said that came out totally wrong, they didn’t understand what I was trying to say. He apologised and said must he go back on air and rectify it? I said no - let’s spice it up, let’s keep it that way. “
Erasmus did admit that Ireland should be favourites given their recent history over the Boks, as they are still the only team that Erasmus and co have not beaten in a test match.
“If there is one team that certainly has upper hand, and it shows that since 2016 - I never want to make us the underdogs and we don’t want to be that. The stats are there - we haven’t beaten them since 2016,” Rassie added.
The Boks will face Ireland in tests in Pretoria on July 6 and Durban on July 13.