Rassie Erasmus hits back after Ian Foster’s sly dig at South Africa and Ireland
Rassie Erasmus before Springboks' Rugby World Cup win over Scotland in 2023.
South Africa director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has responded after All Blacks head coach Ian Foster questioned whether Ireland’s victory over South Africa was a spectacle rugby should revel in.
The All Blacks boosted their Rugby World Cup quarter-final hopes after they demolished Italy in Lyon on Friday.
They scored 14 tries in total in a 96-17 thrashing of the Azzurri, playing some thrilling rugby in the process.
Titanic clash in Paris
Foster, in his post-match press conference, appeared to infer that their style was more interesting than Ireland’s and South Africa’s, who battled it out in Paris.
Andy Farrell’s men edged out the Springboks 13-8 in what most people considered was the best match of the tournament so far, but New Zealand’s head coach was sceptical.
“If you look at the South Africa-Ireland game, it was a different game of rugby. The ball was in play for 27 minutes throughout the whole game,” Foster said.
“It was a very stop-start game, very physical, very combative. You saw a different spectacle tonight and at some point the world has got to decide which game it would rather watch.”
Well I’ll tell you what Ian Foster, I think neutrals would pick the SA v Ireland game 10/10 over watching clubbing baby seals. pic.twitter.com/2UiEGoYdXs
— A-P (@rugby_ap) September 30, 2023
It caused a stir on X, formerly known as Twitter, and South Africa director of rugby Erasmus took to the platform to hit back.
Erasmus started by praising Foster, writing: “Ian always a straight shooter and say it as it is! Have respect for him since he coached the Chiefs!!”
He then went on to explain that Friday’s match in Lyon did not have significantly more ball in play time than the Boks’ encounter with the Irish.
The 50-year-old added: “But I think 2 min more ball in play and an epic battle between Ireland and Boks is the game I would rather watch!! (while saying that your boys were crisp and clinical)”
Social media reaction
Most fans were bemused by Foster’s comments, with Front Row Rugby writing on X: “”Mmm, what would I rather watch?
“Two titans throwing everything at each other & there’s just no way through & you don’t know what’s going to happen until the final whistle.
“One team throwing everything at another that offers no resistance and it’s all over after 20 mins.”
Old Sulians RFC sarcastically added: “That’s the trouble with rugby today. Not enough 100-0 blowouts.”
Despite marvelling over the brilliance of the All Blacks, many thought that their game with Italy lost interest after they opened up a comfortable buffer in the first quarter.
“Somebody needs to explain to Fozzie that every single one of those 27 ball in play minutes in SA v IRE was worth the watching. There were less than 5 minutes worth the watching last night,” Ciaran McGrenera wrote.
