'Hands off Rassie', says SA Rugby boss

SA Rugby boss Mark Alexander has told the world it is ‘hands off’ when it comes to director of rugby and World Cup-winning coach Rassie Erasmus.

Alexander, speaking with Mark Keohane, founder of www.keo.co.za, dismissed media reports linking Erasmus to England’s Rugby Football Union post 2021.

‘We wanted Rassie back in South Africa because we knew his value to our game and also because we knew his belief in the future of South African rugby and in South Africa as a country. Anyone who has interacted with Rassie knows that he bleeds green and gold,’ Alexander told Keo.co.za. ‘There is no way we would let him go.’

It was reported that Erasmus was appointed for six years, but Keo.co.za has learned that because of the public backlash the six-year contract was not signed and there was a compromise of four years. It is this discrepancy that has awoken the rest of world rugby’s administration, especially England’s RFU.

‘Jurie (as CEO), Rassie as Director of Rugby and myself as President of SA Rugby have always been on the same page when it comes to Rassie and why we wanted him back from Ireland. We didn’t bring him back for the 2019 World Cup or the 2021 British & Irish Lions Tour. We brought him back to lead the renaissance of South African rugby, which is beyond 2023.’

Mark Keohane talks to SA Rugby magazine boss Moneyman about Rassie’s patriotism to South African rugby.