The All Blacks have thrown a bit of thinly-veiled criticism towards Rassie Erasmus for using coloured lights to communicate with the Bok support staff on the sidelines.
Erasmus got the rugby world talking by pulling out one of his old plays during South Africa’s opening World Cup victory against Scotland.
During a tightly contested first half in Marseille on Sunday, Erasmus and assistant coach Felix Jones caught the attention of the cameras by communicating from the coaches box using coloured lights.
Bok coach Jacques Nienaber later explained that the lights were used because the noise inside Marseille’s Stade Velodrome made it difficult to hear the walkie-talkies.
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However, when asked about the tactic, All Blacks scrum coach Greg Feek did very little to hide that he felt Erasmus was dictating to the Bok players.
“We back our players to make the decisions on the field. My only concern using that would be the lamp blowing or running out of battery and if they’re are relying on it, you know… We back our senior players, the boys to do the job,” said Feek
“But hey, if it works for them, and that’s been the system for a while, it’s innovative and we’ve got our methods.”
The All Blacks suffered a 27-13 loss to hosts France in the opening game of the World Cup, but have a good opportunity to notch their first win of the 2023 tournament against minnows Namibia on Friday.
“We’ve certainly put the microscope on a few things but certainly not reinventing the wheel and pushing the panic buttons,” said Feek. “There is still a great energy amongst the group. There’s a willingness to get us up to where we need to be.
“Scrummaging now with the power that we have and the timing, I suppose you could compare it to a goal kicker; if he (a front-rower) is a centimetre or an inch off that could be three or four by the time he engages and that could be the difference at international level and particularly at World Cups when the referees and the game want it to be as much game time as possible.”
Photo: MICHAEL BRADLEY / AFP
