Rassie Erasmus, the outspoken Springboks head coach, recently made his return to World Rugby's Shape of the Game summit after a period of exclusion due to his critical comments about referees. This year's meeting in London marked his first attendance since the ban, joining forces with key South African rugby figures including SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer and assistant coach Felix Jones.
The summit gathered about 200 influential personalities from the rugby world to deliberate on both on-field and off-field future directions for the sport. Erasmus, previously a regular at these meetings and active in committee roles, participated as an observer this time. "I'm very glad that we went," Erasmus shared with reporters in Cape Town. He added,
"Sometimes you get out of touch with World Rugby by just doing virtual calls, emails, and following them on Instagram or whatever. You want to see them eye-to-eye, and I feel that happened over the couple of days."
Despite his observer status, Erasmus found the meetings well-structured and more engaging than anticipated, saying, "At the first meeting, I thought, 'Ag, why did I fly here?' but I enjoyed the ones after that." His insights were part of broader discussions that he believes were effectively handled, although not all parties agreed on everything.
Contrasting sharply with Erasmus' positive take, Eddie Jones, Japan's head coach, blasted the summit as ineffective. On the Rugby Unity podcast, Jones remarked,
"It's a joke mate. The game needs to get sorted out, we can all see that, but because they had so many people in a room in so many different areas, they couldn't come to a decision on anything."
He cynically concluded that everyone just "holds hands at the end, have a gin and tonic, so it's all good."
Nevertheless, Erasmus appreciated the timing of the summit, especially with the World Cup looming. He emphasized the importance of attending such meetings close to major tournaments to avoid "waiting for the consequences." Reflecting on the overall experience, Erasmus commended World Rugby for managing well-structured discussions that respected the diversity of opinions and strategies beneficial for the sport.
2,100 posts
Rassie Erasmus, the outspoken Springboks head coach, recently made his return to World Rugby's Shape of the Game summit after a period of exclusion due to his critical comments about referees. This year's meeting in London marked his first attendance since the ban, joining forces with key South African rugby figures including SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer and assistant coach Felix Jones.
The summit gathered about 200 influential personalities from the rugby world to deliberate on both on-field and off-field future directions for the sport. Erasmus, previously a regular at these meetings and active in committee roles, participated as an observer this time. "I'm very glad that we went," Erasmus shared with reporters in Cape Town. He added,
"Sometimes you get out of touch with World Rugby by just doing virtual calls, emails, and following them on Instagram or whatever. You want to see them eye-to-eye, and I feel that happened over the couple of days."
Despite his observer status, Erasmus found the meetings well-structured and more engaging than anticipated, saying, "At the first meeting, I thought, 'Ag, why did I fly here?' but I enjoyed the ones after that." His insights were part of broader discussions that he believes were effectively handled, although not all parties agreed on everything.
Contrasting sharply with Erasmus' positive take, Eddie Jones, Japan's head coach, blasted the summit as ineffective. On the Rugby Unity podcast, Jones remarked,
"It's a joke mate. The game needs to get sorted out, we can all see that, but because they had so many people in a room in so many different areas, they couldn't come to a decision on anything."
He cynically concluded that everyone just "holds hands at the end, have a gin and tonic, so it's all good."Nevertheless, Erasmus appreciated the timing of the summit, especially with the World Cup looming. He emphasized the importance of attending such meetings close to major tournaments to avoid "waiting for the consequences." Reflecting on the overall experience, Erasmus commended World Rugby for managing well-structured discussions that respected the diversity of opinions and strategies beneficial for the sport.