Springboks: Rassie Erasmus weighs in on referee calls claiming Bongi Mbonambi ‘definitely lucky’, Aphelele Fassi ‘reckless

Jared Wright
Springboks Aphelele Fassi and Bongi Mbonambi.

Rassie Erasmus has commented on two incident during the Test match against Wales.

Rassie Erasmus says that Bongi Mbonambi was fortunate not to be carded against Wales at Twickenham and comments on Aphelele Fassie’s sin-binning.

Marking his return as the Springboks head coach, Erasmus led his team to a dominant 41-13 victory over Wales in London.

Jesse Kriel, Makazole Mapimpi, Mbonambi and Edwill van der Merwe all crossed for tries while the Boks were also awarded a penalty try in the win.

While the Springboks‘ win over Warren Gatland’s charges was rather comfortable, there were some soft moments, and Erasmus rued the ill-discipline, as his side conceded 11 penalties in the match and could have had two players visit the sin bin.

Aphelele Fassi’s yellow card

Instead, it was just Fassi who refreee Chris Busby issued a yellow card to with the full-back judged to have been guilty of reckless play after making raising his leg in an unatural manner when collecting a high ball.

He made contact with Wales‘ back rower Taine Plumtree, and after a review with the TMO, Busby sent Fassi to the sin bin with the TMO Bunker not upgrading the decision.

Former Springboks head coach Nick Mallett felt that it was a harsh decision, suggesting that referee Busby had already made up his mind about the incident before the review and would not budge.

“Now, the ref here has already decided that it’s a yellow card. He blew his whistle and said, ‘That’s a foot in the face and a yellow card,'” Mallett said during his half-time analysis.

However, current boss Erasmus feels that Fassi was unlucky but understood the reasoning behind the final decision.

“There were a few instances in the match but Fassi did have some bad luck,” he said.

“But definitely it is a little bit reckless and you can’t just put your foot out there and hope he doesn’t hit somebody’s head.”

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Bongi Mbonambi’s tackle

Meanwhile, Erasmus also weighed in on Mbomabi’s tackle after the hour mark on Wales prop Gareth Thomas.

The Bok hooker entered a double tackle after Ox Nche made the initial contact and made head-to-head contact with the Welsh forward.

After a lengthy review deemed that Mbonambi’s actions were ‘careless’ but that both players were ‘very bent’ and ruled that it would just be a penalty against the Bok forward.

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However, Erasmus feels that his hooker was rather fortunate not to be sent to the sidelines for his action.

“I think Bongi was definitely lucky not to get a yellow card for when he went in there with his tackle,” the Springbok head coach added.

“Overall, I think we conceded around 13 penalties, and Jaco Peyper took us through them all this morning, and there were seven or eight that were avoidable that weren’t accidents but were stupidity, so overall, I’m happy.”

While Erasmus felt that it could have resulted in a yellow card, the citing commissioner did not believe it warranted more as the hooker has not been cited for his tackle with the window to do so now closed.

South Africa now turn their attentions to their two home Test matches against Ireland followed by a one-off clash with Portugal before Rugby Championship begins.

READ MORE: How the Springboks could lineup against Ireland as ‘generational talent’ gets his shot

International Aphelele Fassi Bongi Mbonambi Rassie Erasmus

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