1
Rassie Erasmus tweets 'spot on' 34-word reply to Barrett interview
By Liam Heagney
Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has tweeted his verdict on what All Blacks fly-half Beauden Barrett had to say about being on the receiving end of the brutal red-carded aerial challenge in last weekend’s Rugby Championship.
ADVERTISEMENT
The 31-year-old – who has dropped to the bench for this Saturday’s round two rematch in Johannesburg – was toppled head over heels in the air when Kurt-Lee Arendse illegally crashed into him in the 75th minute of the round one match in Mbombela, an incident that resulted in the South African being sent off and banned for four matches.
Arendse was taken away on a motorised medical cart due to the injury he sustained in the collision while Barrett, who landed on his head, thankfully managed to walk off the pitch following the six-minute stoppage for treatment.
He has since given his take on the incident in a four-minute-plus interview released by the All Blacks. “It was quite a big collision and I did think of the worst instantly, especially when I was on the ground and I can’t remember who it was told me to stay still,” explained Barrett when asked to recollect what had taken place near the end of a match the All Blacks went on to lose 26-10.
“It wasn’t until the doc came on and asked me, ‘Can you move your fingers? Your toes?’ I was relieved to have passed all those tests and basically sort of sat up and was able to walk off and get on with it. But there was a fearful period there for a minute or so where you do think of the worst.
Fair play to him he is not bitching part of the game. On to the next test good luck Boks 30 this week
— Steve Haag Sports (@STEVEHAAGSPORT) August 10, 2022
“It’s quite scary when you do go over backwards and you find yourself come down on your head and shoulders. It’s part of the game and I understand that every time we go up for the high ball we have got to be courageous. Sometimes the chasers don’t get it right. They have intentions to get up and they find themselves running into the person – which happened on the weekend.
“The players in front of me are doing their best jobs to protect me but it is not always the case. It’s something we have expected from South Africa in terms of the high ball collision and contest. I don’t think they will change anything, they will look to make it a real contest and a 50/50 but we will continue to be courageous… Yeah, relief would be an understatement.”
ADVERTISEMENT
What Barrett had to say was replied to by Erasmus on Twitter. “Spot on! An area of the game that requires courage and technique and, as you say, injuries are part of the contest. We hope you get well soon and recover from this traumatic experience,” posted the South African director of rugby.
It was four years ago when Barrett had a similarly frightening experience when hit in the air playing for the All Blacks. “I had a similar incident where I came down on my more my shoulder against France in Wellington in 2018, very similar, the chaser got there sooner than he realised…
“It’s high speed, split-second stuff which can be quite dangerous. I was lucky on that occasion and once again lucky on the weekend. Let’s hope I still have plenty of luck in me because I have got to be courageous and so does everyone who goes up to catch a high ball.
“It is such an area of the game where South Africa uses it as a strength because they cause carnage up in the air and they like to play off of the spills and so on. It’s not something we focus on too much when we have got the ball but in terms of the style of rugby they play, the kicking game is a strength they perceive.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The solution is simple, the player who has placed themselves in the dominant catching position either by leaping into the air or has arrived in the defensive or attacking catching position first will have the right to catch the ball, but if both feet are firmly on the ground when the ball is caught then the attacking or defending player can challenge the catcher for ball possession, any aggressive blocking or obstruction intended to prevent the high ball being caught or challenged fairly will be immediately penalised, as will any body contact while a player is in the air with both feet off the ground, including issuing a possible yellow/red card.
With the increasing use of high balls for tactical and territorial advantage it seems obvious to me that the broadcasters like this spectacle, including the athletic leaps and mid air collisions, they make good slow motion replays. I'm not sure they're worth a player being put into a wheelchair though.
is this the same embarrising rassie. hope AB smashes the boks this weekend just to keep him whinging....
If he had rightly received a yellow for his earlier collision with Jordie this wouldn't have escalated. Accident waiting to happen. If WR are serious about protecting players there should be a rule change which acknowledges the player from the defending team is far more vulnerable to injury under the high ball - it's not actually a fair contest.
The defender will usually only have a couple of metres to build momentum into the jump and are therefore almost jumping vertically, whereas an attacking jumper may have had 30m to get up to 80% of full speed and jumping into the collision significantly faster and at an angle that massively reduces the margin of error.
Very glad he came through unscathed. It'll be interesting to see what sort of impact he can make from the bench this Saturday. It was always the tactic used when he was at the peak of his game.
Erasmus is correct, you certainly need "courage" when opposition players come barreling in to a high ball contest with no intention of catching the ball. But this time he is not blaming the referee because SA won.