There is a process in place for coaches and directors of rugby to air concerns after games and get feedback – and it’s not on Twitter
While I was at Murrayfield on Sunday for Scotland’s game with New Zealand, someone showed me the tweets Rassie Erasmus was posting after South Africa’s loss to France and commented: ‘Oh, have you seen Rassie’s at it again’. While he’s being gracious in one way talking about the game and atmosphere and result, throughout those tweets there is a subtle dig at the match officials.
We don’t see other directors of rugby or head coaches doing the same thing. I think it’s a little bit disappointing.
I thought there were a couple of tough calls against Scotland, including one with Jamie Ritchie close to the line that was a scrum penalty against Scotland towards the end of the game where I couldn’t really see an infringement. But, we don’t see Gregor Townsend putting out videos like that afterwards.
The thing is, Rassie is such an influential person in World Rugby. The match officials will go and look at those moments again. There is a process in place for people to do reports after games and get feedback. And I would like to see Rassie follow that process.