South Africa should not be allowed to use Rassie Erasmus as a waterboy during first Test with Lions, says former international referee Alain Rolland, as he urges World Rugby to investigate controversial ‘loophole’
- Springboks director of rugby was used as a waterboy during warm-up games
- He was seen running on the pitch to deliver tactical messages to players
- Former referee Alain Rolland says it should not be allowed in the first Lions Test
- Rolland urged World Rugby to investigate the controversial rule loophole
World Rugby have been urged to investigate South Africa’s use of Rassie Erasmus as a waterboy.
Springboks director of rugby Erasmus has been running on to the pitch dressed as a drinks assistant to deliver tactical messages during the warm-up games for the Lions series.
Now former international referee Alain Rolland, who took charge of the 2007 World Cup final, believes the ploy should be stopped.
World Rugby have been urged to investigate South Africa’s tactic of using Rassie Erasmus (centre) as a waterboy
Former international referee Alain Rolland says Erasmus should not be allowed on the pitch
‘Rassie Erasmus shouldn’t be allowed to play the role of water carrier on Saturday,’ Rolland told Sportsmail.
‘Head coaches are not allowed in the technical zone. Rassie Erasmus is head coach in everything apart from name.
‘It doesn’t sit comfortably with me. I’ve got no doubt that it will get looked at by World Rugby.
‘He is at all the press conferences, all the training sessions and does all the sparring with Warren Gatland in the media.
‘If Steve Hansen was the director of rugby for the All Blacks, nobody would expect to see him running on the water. Also, most of the time Erasmus is not even carrying water on to the field.
Erasmus was seen running on to the field dressed as a drinks assistant to deliver messages
‘I’ve got no doubt that it’s been raised this week and will get looked at by World Rugby. It may be very difficult to stop because technically South Africa are not breaking the protocol.
‘If South Africa are able to prove that he’s not the head coach, there may not be an awful lot of action that can be taken in such a short period of time. It’s hard to change these things on the hoof.
‘There’s normally a protocol to change a protocol. Even if they want to do something about it, they may have to wait until November!’
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