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Siya's artful sidestep as Rassie ban headlines media briefing

Springbok captain Siyamthanda Kolisi used all his artful guile to sidestep a barrage of questions on the maelstrom swirling around the head of South Africa’s Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus.

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Erasmus was slapped with a two-match ban on Thursday, after a firestorm erupted over the 2019 World Cup-winning coaches social media activity.

Unlike his blunt criticism in an hour-long video during the British and Irish Lions tour last year – which earned him a nearly year-long ban – Erasmus has been satiric in his tweets (accompanied by videos) of the performance of English referee Wayne Barnes in the 26-30 loss to France in Marseille last week.

It sparked a divisive logomachy in the game that dragged on throughout the week in the build-up to the Test between South Africa and Italy in Genoa on Saturday.

However, by Thursday World Rugby stepped into the fray, announcing another ban for Erasmus.

“Having considered the matter, World Rugby has issued a two-match ban against Rassie Erasmus,” the statement read, adding: “Accordingly he may not take part in any match day activity in relation to the two upcoming test matches that South Africa has against Italy on November 19 and England on November 26.

“The ban includes engagement with media and social media in relation to match officials.”

(Continue below …)

World-Rugby-statement-on-Rassie-Erasmus

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At his traditional captain’s media briefing the day before a Test, Kolisi managed to avoid the prickly subject.

“We have had two tough games that we lost,” the Bok skipper said of the encounters with Ireland and France.

“All our focus is on playing Italy,” he added.

“It is a big game for us. We don’t want to go three games without a win.

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“All our focus, as a team, has been on beating Italy.

“The last two games they played at home, they showed what they are capable of,” he said of Azzurri’s victories over Samoa (49-17) and Australia (28-27).

“That is all that we focused on and we are not going to let anything distract us from that.”

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Turning to the game itself and the two losses in the opening weeks of their year-end campaign, Kolisi spoke of the frustration of getting close – 16-19 against Ireland and 26-30 against France – but not being able to get the big ‘W’.

“We headed in the right direction, but we didn’t get the results and we know the stuff we are working on is improving,” the Bok skipper said.

He admitted that they changed tactics from the Ireland game to the French game, taking a more expansive approach.

“We ran a whole lot more, with a specific plan,” Kolisi said.

“The coaches want us to go back to what we enjoy and be excited.

“You look at the guys in our team and what they are good at

“We have guys like Cheslin [Kolbe] and Kurt-Lee [Arendse], with Willie [le Roux] at the back that creates opportunities for players.

“We have Gaza [Damian Willemse] at flyhalf, who plays on instinct.

“That is what the coaches are encouraging us to do.

“We want to play as many ways as we can. to see what is the best way for us as a group.”

He added that while their powerful forward and kicking game remain in the back pocket, they are building more variety into their repertoire.

@king365ed
@rugby365com

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