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Rassie Erasmus' Autumn Nations Series hangs in balance this weekend

Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus.

South Africa’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus will this weekend be the subject of a World Rugby misconduct hearing having criticised referee Nic Berry’s performance in an online video after July’s first Test defeat to the British and Irish Lions

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Subject to any verdict from the hearing, Erasmus will be alongside head coach Jacques Nienaber and the rest of the management for the Autumn Nations Cup matches and that will be crucial for the Springboks according to Handre Pollard, their goal kicking outside half.

Pollard helped Montpellier defeat Racing 92 in front of his fellow Springbok squad members who were watching in the stands as they prepare for the European players to join up after this weekend’s domestic fixtures. Erasmus will not be reprising his waterboy role following a change in World Rugby rules and if he avoids any action for his comments,

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Pollard said: “Rassie hasn’t been as hands on, with the World Rugby court case and all that referee stuff. But it’s going to be great to have him back, we really missed him. He’s got a funny way of getting the best out of us.”

With regular scrumhalf Faf de Klerk recovering after hip surgery Montpellier’s Cobus Reinach, who scored an amazing solo try against Racing, faces a battle for the Springbok No.9 jersey with Stormers’ Herschel Jantjies and Sharks’ Grant Williams.

Reinach, Pollard told AFP, had “played an unbelievable game, showing all the X-factor that he’s got” against Racing. He added: “We know what we’ve got in Herschel, we know what we’ve got with Cobus, and with Grant the new guy coming through. Luckily it’s not my decision to make, I’ll leave that up to the coach. We’re very blessed to have them playing scrumhalf for us.”

South Africa play Wales on 6 November, Scotland a week later before a replay of the 2019 Rugby World Cup final against England on 20 November. “We haven’t beaten Wales in a very long time in Cardiff, so it’s going to be one of our big objectives,” said Pollard. “Scotland are always a difficult side to play. We want three out of three, that would be perfect. I really can’t wait to get stuck in.”

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S
SK 24 minutes ago
What is the future of rugby in 2025?

Set pieces are important and the way teams use them is a great indication of how they play the game. No team is showcasing their revolution more than the Springboks. This year they have mauled less and primarily in the attacking third. Otherwise they have tended to set like they are going to maul and then play around the corner or shove the ball out the back. They arent also hitting the crash ball carrier constantly but instead they are choosing to use their width or a big carrying forward in wider areas. While their maul is varied the scrum is still a blunt instrument winning penalties before the backs have a go. Some teams have chosen to blunt their set piece game for more control. The All Blacks are kicking more penalties and are using their powerful scrum as an attacking tool choosing that set piece as an attacking weapon. Their willingness to maul more and in different positions is also becoming more prominent. The French continue to play conservative rugby off the set piece using their big bruisers frequently. The set piece is used differently by different teams. Different teams play different ways and can be successful regardless. They can win games with little territory and possession or smash teams with plenty of both. The game of rugby is for all types and sizes and thats true in the modern era. I hope that administrators keep it that way and dont go further towards a Rugby League style situation. Some administrators are of the opinion that rugby is too slow and needs to be sped up. Why not rather empower teams to choose how they want to play and create a framework that favours neither size nor agility. That favours neither slow tempo play or rock n roll rugby. Create a game that favour both and challenge teams to execute their plans. If World Rugby can create a game like that then it will be the ultimate winner.

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J
JW 5 hours ago
'Let's not sugarcoat it': Former All Black's urgent call to protect eligibility rules

Yep, no one knows what will happen. Thing is I think (this is me arguing a point here not a random debate with this one) they're better off trialing it now in a controlled environment than waiting to open it up in a knee jerk style reaction to a crumbling organtization and team. They can always stop it again.


The principle idea is that why would players leave just because the door is ajar?


BBBR decides to go but is not good enough to retain the jersey after doing it. NZ no longer need to do what I suggest by paying him to get back upto speed. That is solely a concept of a body that needs to do what I call pick and stick wth players. NZR can't hold onto everyone so they have to choose their BBBRs and if that player comes back from a sabbatical under par it's a priority to get him upto speed as fast as possible because half of his competition has been let go overseas because they can't hold onto them all. Changing eligibility removes that dilemma, if a BBBR isn't playing well you can be assured that someone else is (well the idea is that you can be more assured than if you only selected from domestic players).


So if someone decides they want to go overseas, they better do it with an org than is going to help improve them, otherwise theyre still basically as ineligible as if they would have been scorning a NZ Super side that would have given them the best chance to be an All Black.

147 Go to comments
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