Erasmus claims Twitter hack part of Springboks smear campaign

Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has called out the person who hacked his Twitter account and retweeted a pornographic video.

Erasmus was left red-faced after his account retweeted an explicit video of two people engaged in a sex act – a video that wasn’t successfully un-retweeted for most of the day.

Now Erasmus has suggested that the incident is part of a wider smear campaign to damage the Springboks and the Rugby World Cup winning coach’s reputation.

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James O’Connor is brilliantly open about his life & career | RugbyPass Offload | Episode 36

James O’Connor joins the lads this week to walk us through his phenomenal and often misunderstood career. He talks to us about being the youngest player to line out in Super Rugby and for the Wallabies, struggling with alcohol, fame and partying, as well as playing in London, Manchester and Toulon before returning to Australia. One of the most talented players of his generation, he gives us an incredible insight into the highs and lows of his career so far and what his plans are next. Max and Ryan also cover off the Champions Challenge Cup Finals and the jubilant scenes in La Rochelle

After apologising for the ‘inappropriate’ retweet, Erasmus posted a video from the Springboks documentary Two Sides, linking the lastest Twitter incident to the leaking of the infamous 62-minute long post during the British & Irish Lions tour.

Erasmus was banned from all rugby activity for two months after six charges of misconduct against him were upheld. The charges were brought by World Rugby in response to Erasmus’ behaviour towards match officials during the Springboks’ 2-1 series victory over the Lions last year.

The 49-year-old Erasmus was unhappy with numerous decisions by Berry in the loss and was further displeased when his efforts to engage with the official the following day were rebuffed.

The 62-minute long video rant, Erasmus says, was intended to be sent to World Rugby officials and Berry only. Instead, it found its way onto a public viewing platform and started to circulate on social media.

The misconduct committee found that Erasmus had told Berry he would publish the video unless the latter agreed to a meeting, and then carried out the threat. He was also found guilty of making comments in the video that were “either abusive, insulting and/or offensive to match officials”.

Now Erasmus is drawing a line between the two incidents.

“Someone is trying really hard to drag us to the gutters!,” wrote Erasmus. “Make yourself [sic] known man!! I will be more than happy to meet you there”

https://twitter.com/RassieRugby/status/1533108210734927873

The latest incident comes in the wake of the ‘Jaco Johan’ affair. Erasmus retweeted a post from an anonymous user showing some “questionable calls” by the officials against the world champions.

As part of the retweet, Erasmus adds: “Thanks. This is rugby – sometimes calls go for you and other times they dont”.

The ‘Jaco Johan’ account used the same type of graphics – a yellow circle – to highlight the alleged foul play as Erasmus does on his official account, leading many to come to the conclusion that it was the South African’s burner account.

additional reporting AAP