Rassie Erasmus is back from the World Rugby summit in London, and the message is clear: the essence of the game remains. With the 2027 World Cup in sight, the Springboks are happy to keep the contest exactly where it is. Photo: Backpagepix
Image: Backpagepix
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus joked that he had "big eyes" at World Rugby’s recent Shape of the Game summit in London because it was the first one he had been permitted to attend.
“I’m so pleased I went,” he smiled.
“I was always supposed to go to these conferences, but then I would not be able to go because I was banned. So this was a first time for me.”
At the conclusion of the week-long event, the French sports newspaper L’Equipe ran a story about Australia and New Zealand allegedly telling the summit that they want to trade some of rugby’s scrums for mauls to quicken the game. Australia are currently investing heavily in the 2027 tournament, with costs estimated at roughly £250 million (about R6.1 billion).
While not commenting on that specific topic, Erasmus said that the various countries sometimes batted for their own causes.
“You could hear when someone was talking about what’s best for Fiji, or what suits their environment. South Africa will talk about what’s good for South Africa. But it was always brought back to what’s best for rugby,” he said.
“I’m very happy with how it went,” Erasmus added. “You can get out of touch with world rugby if it’s only virtual calls and emails. You want to look a guy in the eye, and that happened over the last couple of days.”
Erasmus is relieved that the game is not in for any late law changes as next year’s World Cup gets closer.
“You can maybe skip one or two meetings, but you don’t skip the year before a World Cup. We’re satisfied that we gave our opinion and that World Rugby will make decisions with proper input.”
SA Rugby CEO Riaan Oberholzer is equally pleased that the uniqueness of rugby unions has been preserved.
“After the conference, it was very evident that there is nothing really wrong with the way we’re playing the game. There’s no need for dramatic changes. It’s still a game for all shapes and sizes. The contest is important. That’s the essence of rugby.”
Also part of the South African delegation was referee advisor Jaco Peyper.
“There will be no fundamental law changes. There might be a few slight tweaks as we keep improving the game, but we have to keep rugby’s identity,” he added.
Peyper clarified the position on red cards.
“Full red cards will be for non-rugby actions or clearly reckless acts — a kick, a bite, a gouge, or spitting. We don’t want those sorts of things in rugby, so we all accept that it is a full red card. But technical errors won’t automatically go to a full red.”
As for TMOs, Peyper added: “The protocol is not broken. We need to invest in the individuals within the system. The biggest decisions are made there, so we must make sure we’ve got the right people in those roles.”
* Mike Greenaway is a senior rugby reporter at Independent Media and contributor on our Last World on Rugby podcast on our YouTube channel, The Clutch