Why Eddie Jones shouldn’t like the timing of Rassie verdict

If there’s one non-South African who should be irritated with the timing of the announcement of the verdict against Rassie Erasmus it is England coach Eddie Jones.

The Australian knows better than most international coaches how the Springbok and South African psyche works as he served as Jake White’s assistant when they won the World Cup in 2007. Coming to think of it there are two World Cup winning former Bok assistants in the England coaching team. Forward coach Matt Proudfoot was part of Erasmus’ winning group in Japan in 2019.

So if the England players didn’t know it already they will be told by their coaches: “This Rassie suspension thing doesn’t work for us!” And it doesn’t, for while with the world No 1 ranking on the line they already had plenty to play for, the way their beloved director of rugby, or water boy if you like, has been treated by World Rugby has given them even more reason to circle the wagons and prepare for this game as if it is a war.

PENDING APPEAL

Erasmus is set to appeal his suspension and SA Rugby are going to appeal the hefty fine they were slapped with. That was made clear in a short joint communication from SA Rugby on Wednesday night. It was also made clear that there would be no comment from either party until the appeal process has been completed, so what we don’t know is how the verdict impacts on Erasmus for this particular game.

Surely this is an instance where Erasmus continues in his role pending the appeal, in other words until the appeal has taken place. And with the Boks about to go into their summer recess anyway, that would mean the initial “two month suspension from all rugby activities” would not come into effect until after the international season is done and it will only impact when it matters less. It’s been a stressful year for Erasmus, maybe he deserves a two month holiday in Mauritius.

REASON TO TAKE ON WORLD CUP FINAL MENTALITY

But regardless of whether the appeal process means Erasmus can still be involved this week, that wouldn’t change the bottom line, which is that if ever the Boks had reason to take on the World Cup final mentality that made them such an irrepressible force in Yokohama in November 2019 in the in between years, it is now.

Of course, perception is everything and the middle class old school mentality brigade, not to mention old school tie, that run world rugby will feel they are right to throw the book at Erasmus. You can’t criticise the refereeing, chum. Referees are royal game. You can’t do things that challenge World Rugby, chum. You can’t do things that are outside our world view, rugby should not be brought into disrepute by people who challenge how it is run.

PEOPLE RUNNING THE GAME EXIST IN AN ECHO CHAMBER

The old timers running the game don’t see the threat to the sport that Erasmus’ allegedly (still an important qualification by the way) leaked video highlighted, and which is of concern to those who care about the future of the sport.

And it doesn’t help either that the people running the game live in an echo chamber created by their reverence for the equally old school and middle class UK and Irish newspaper scribes who drove the agenda to villify Erasmus and who have just never let it rest. Unfortunately the world view of the influencers and the decision makers in rugby may be out of touch with what is needed for the sport to move forward vibrantly, and the Australian columnist Alan Jones, himself a former Wallaby coach, had it right when he defended Erasmus recently and spoke of rugby being run by old men out of Britain.

There’s nothing more anathema to the UK/Irish view than someone who challenges it, who puts out the message that maybe there’s another way of looking at things and who suggests the status quo shouldn’t be allowed to continue.

INSTEAD OF ACCEPTING DEFEAT WE JUST GOT WHINGEING

Instead of accepting that the British and Irish Lions lost the recent series fairly and squarely to a Bok team that hadn’t played serious international rugby since the World Cup, and giving them the credit for that achievement they deserved, the UK/Irish media has instead blamed the defeat on Erasmus’ video.

The incessant whingeing has deflected from the Bok achievement, and apart from spending the year having to fight off Covid, deal with bio-bubbles and quarantining and a schedule that would have been considered overly hectic even in a normal year, the Boks have had to do everything against a background of an increasing hostile attitude towards them.

They and their fans will feel that the World Rugby hostility to them was underlined this week by the snub directed at them in the World Rugby Awards list. They won a Lions series, they beat New Zealand, but not one player or coach was recognised. Two Wallaby players are among the finalists and the coach of a team that was thumped in three Bledisloe matches. How does that work?

Maybe, as Bok coach Jacques Nienaber himself suggested, there isn’t anything sinister in the non-appearance of players and personnel from the world champion and currently still No 1 ranked nation. But it doesn’t look good, and it is just another of many reasons why the Boks will be giving a new meaning to the term laager mentality and why those wagons will be circled more tightly than ever before.

THE BOKS LIKE FIGHTING FOR A CAUSE

Jones and Proudfoot will understand that, they will understand what the timing of the Erasmus verdict may have done for their opponents, who are astute at finding causes to galvanise them. If you want to look for examples of when the Boks grew and extra arm and a leg because of the mentality they get when they feel the world is against them and doesn’t rate them, you don’t have to draw just on the obvious 2019 World Cup final example.

There was also the second test of the Lions series, when that feeling of “it’s us against the rest of the world” was particularly heightened, or the last two games of the Rugby Championship against New Zealand. The Boks had good reason to be mentally and physically fatigued at that point, but in that final fortnight of the Championship they defied the odds by being up for the games against their traditional foe and main rivals to their No 1 status.

On Saturday it’s a case for the Boks of “Once more into the fray” as they motivate themselves by a cause that they will feel goes way beyond rugby. They’re fighting instead to deliver the message that while British Toffs might think they own the sport, they don’t rule it on the field. Knowing him, it’s probably a cause Eddie Jones would support himself if he wasn’t employed by the RFU.