Ex-Springboks star slams ‘dictator’ Laurie Mains over Rassie Erasmus feud and details ex-All Blacks boss’ shocking cover-up
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus and former All Blacks boss Laurie Mains.
Former Springboks full-back Conrad Jantjes has leapt to the defence of Rassie Erasmus after Laurie Mains’ stinging criticism of the South Africa head coach.
Erasmus and Mains have been involved in a long-running feud, which has lasted 25 years following the latter’s time at the Golden Lions and Cats.
In his autobiography, the current Boks boss revealed how he and the New Zealander butted heads and also detailed a situation whereby the ex-All Blacks head coach told Jantjes to feign an injury.
Mains hit back recently in an interview with Dom Harvey, saying: “The only reason I had conflict with Rassie, it wasn’t about rugby issues; it was that he didn’t want to train.
“He’s a very dishonest person, and I’m not going to get into it now, but he had a lot of personal failings in his social life and that sort of thing.”
‘Dictator’ claims
Jantjes was certainly surprised by the ‘dishonest’ statement having experienced Mains’ willingness to lie in order to effectively bypass SA Rugby’s rules.
He also called the 79-year-old a “dictator” after he and a doctor were put in an incredibly awkward position by their former coach.
The ex-Test full-back gave his full account of the situation to Rapport, stating that he was told to fake an injury during a Currie Cup match between the Lions and Cheetahs.
That would then enable Mains to adhere to the governing body’s quota system which was in place at the time.
“The week leading up to that match was very difficult. On Tuesday, I lost someone I considered an older brother to death,” Jantjes, who earned 24 Springboks caps, said.
“I told the team management I didn’t know if I was in a space where I could play this weekend. They said there was no one else, ‘we need some colour’. I got the week off until captain’s training, but I would go to Bloem.
“The day of the game, we were sitting in the pavilion watching the pre-game when Laurie walked up. I was like, ‘Okay, is this for me?’ Because this man has never had a personal conversation with me before.
“Then Laurie said, ‘Listen, take a break, let the doc sort you out.’ ‘Sort me out?’ I asked. ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, the doc will sort you out.’ I just thought, what the hell is going on. But Laurie put the doctor in an impossible position. He was a dictator, no one could go against him.”
Jantjes replaced
Jantjes ended up playing the first half before going to the dressing room, which was when he was seen to by the medical staff and replaced.
The full-back, who was only 20 at the time, openly voiced his displeasure at the situation with Mains standing just a few feet away.
“I didn’t know what to expect. I was basically taken aside to see the doctor. I asked the team doctor what was going on, and he said, ‘Connie, I don’t know, I don’t know what to do. This is what I was told to do.’ Laurie wanted to get the white player on the field,” he said.
“I raised my voice, I wanted him to know I was pissed off, and I said, ‘This is bull****!’ When the team walked out for the second half, I got the message from Laurie: Put ice on the ‘injured’ leg and walk with a limp.”
Questions were inevitably raised from those outside the Lions as to what had gone on and that led to Mains trying to cover it up, according to Jantjes.
The former Springboks player had spoken to a reporter after the game, responding: “They say so” when asked if he was injured – something he also said to the stadium doctor during the match.
It eventually led to Mains and Jantjes having a discussion on the Wednesday.
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Attempted cover-up
“He said to me: ‘There are problems after the weekend. What are we going to do about it?’ As if he wanted me to lie about what happened,” the 45-year-old said.
“He then turned everything on me, put all that weight on me. But my family values are more important. I was taught from a young age, from where we came from as a country, if something is wrong, then you say it. I’m not going to lie.
“I then asked Laurie: ‘Was it right what happened?’ He said it was about a Currie Cup semi-final. I simply said I had no control over it. If everyone knows what happened, they know. I can’t lie about it.”
The Lions legal team attempted to prevent Jantjes from testifying but they were eventually punished to the tune of R50,000 and four league points, although R20,000 and the point penalty were suspended.
It has left Jantjes in no doubt as to who the better man is, with the ex-Springboks star also getting the chance to play under Erasmus when he moved into coaching.
“When I started playing under Laurie, it was my first taste of professional rugby. It wasn’t fun. I very nearly just walked away from the game,” he added.
“I am grateful to Rassie. I suspect it was he who informed the stadium doctor that day in Bloemfontein that I was not injured.
“I was very privileged to experience him later as a coach (at the Stormers). He felt bad about what happened to me.”