Rassie Erasmus will not be part of South Africa 's fixture against England on November 26 after he was banned from all match-day activities for two games following tweets critiquing referee decisions.
In a repeat of last year's debacle on the British and Irish Lions tour, Erasmus has been punished for using public channels as a means of highlighting alleged inconsistencies in officiating. The 50-year-old tweeted game footage following both of South Africa's recent defeats to Ireland and France, showing what he clearly felt were referee errors.
Erasmus was also banned on the eve of the Boks' meeting with England last year, sitting out two months for his actions during South Africa's series win over the Lions. Warren Gatland —his opposite number during that tour—recently called Erasmus' Twitter activity "indefensible" and urged the Springboks chief to go through the proper channels if he disagrees with certain decisions.
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"Match officials are the backbone of the sport and without them there is no game," read a World Rugby statement. "World Rugby condemns any public criticism of match official selection, performance or integrity, which undermines their role, the trust-based coach/match officials feedback process and the values of integrity, respect, solidarity and discipline that are at the heart of the sport.
"The behaviour of coaching staff and match officials are widely observed by fans, media and participants at every level, and such behaviours affect how the values are applied across the game." The organisation went on to highlight there is a 'confidential feedback process' in place for coaches and executives to discuss such matters with World Rugby in a private manner.
Although Erasmus' tweets concerning the Ireland and France defeats included praise for his opponents, the manner in which the videos are edited appears a clear attempt to draw attention to the officials. The former back-rower has since encouraged people to 'block or mute him' if they don't like his social media activity.
Australian referee Nic Berry revealed he and his family were subject to online abuse after Erasmus featured in an hour-long video criticising some of his decisions during the first Test of last year's Lions tour. It was around the same time South Africa's director was also forced to deny any association with a mysterious Twitter account called Jaco Johan, a Lions critic who supported many of his points.
"Like myself the referee of the French test [Wayne Barnes] & his family have received threats & abuse," the coach tweeted earlier on Thursday. "Apparently it’s partly due to my tweets which is totally unfounded. Tweets were not aimed at the officials, but to our fans on what we should do better. Have a go at me not the ref!!"
While Erasmus may insist it was not his intent to denigrate officials and direct fan ire their way, that appears to have been the effect. South Africa face Italy in Genoa on Saturday (Nov. 19) before concluding their Autumn Nations Series against England the following weekend.
