The Springboks were always going to be in the firing line in the lead-up to their Test against England, but this UK scribe has taken his criticism to the next level.
The top-ranked Springboks will visit rugby’s head-quarters for a highly-anticipated showdown with the seventh-ranked England this weekend.
The bitter rivals will, however, head into this blue-ribbon fixture on unequal footing. South Africa kicked off their end-of-year Test campaign with a solid victory over Scotland, while England started their end-of-year series with twin defeats against the All Blacks and Wallabies.
Additionally, Rassie Erasmus boasts a remarkable win record (five wins out of eight Tests = 62.5%) against England since taking charge of the Springboks back in 2018, including that heart-stopping 16-15 win over the Roses in last year’s World Cup semi-final.
But those numbers haven’t earned Erasmus and his team any respect. In fact, it has brought on nothing but derision and sneering, particularly from the UK media.
NO LOVE FOR TEAM SOUTH AFRICA
In his latest column for the Times, which pointedly outlines why he believes it is high time for World Rugby to outlaw one of Springboks’ feared Bomb Squad, veteran rugby journalist Stephen Jones also accused the South African team of arrogance and being unloveable to outsiders.
“No doubt the actions of Erasmus were arrogant as well. He has enough resources to afford arrogance. The Boks are an unlovely bunch to outsiders, Erasmus himself having been given bans for criticising referees.
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