Sir Steve Hansen has hailed Rassie Erasmus as a \u2018master of sabotage\u2019 and has warned Dave Rennie against taking what he says too seriously.<\/p>\n
The build-up to the Springboks\u2019 clash against the All Blacks in the Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry Series<\/a> opener at Ellis Park has been dominated by the narrative around the speed of the game.<\/p>\n Rennie has repeatedly stated that he wants his team to play a fast-paced game and limit the amount of dead time in matches, backing his team\u2019s fitness and athleticism.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the South Africans have been accused of slowing down the tempo of matches through feigning injuries, huddling before lineouts and wasting time before scrums.<\/p>\n Rassie Erasmus is a master of sabotage<\/p>\n Erasmus<\/a> clearly took umbrage to the narrative, openly stating that he brought former referee Jaco Peyper, who is SA Rugby\u2019s law advisor, with him to Monday\u2019s press conference to address the debate.<\/p>\n \u201cMy opinion is New Zealand<\/a> has played four matches, and there\u2019s certainly been a narrative out there which I think is very technical around the speed of the game, the slowing down of the game, and Jaco is better able to answer those questions because he helps us with all those technical things around laws and so on,\u201d said the Springboks<\/a> boss.<\/p>\n Peyper went in depth about the shot clocks that World Rugby<\/a> is imposing around the setting of scrums and lineouts, with Erasmus then referencing the games between South Africa and New Zealand last year as examples of matches that didn\u2019t lack pace.<\/p>\n Appearing on DSPN with Martin Devlin, Hansen was asked whether he agreed with the Springboks\u2019 head coach, and the 2015 Rugby World Cup-winning boss said that he wouldn\u2019t take too much note of what Erasmus had to say.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, I wouldn\u2019t listen too much to anything Rassie says. He\u2019s the master of sabotage. He\u2019ll tell you one thing and do the complete opposite. He\u2019ll have a style of game that he thinks will suit the Boks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can all guess that they\u2019re going to be physical; they are going to put the ball in the air. It\u2019s a few little bits he puts around that we\u2019ll have to deal with.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a master at sending you one way and then going the other. So, I personally wouldn\u2019t be taking too much notice of what he says. I\u2019ll just be concentrating on what I do know and how they\u2019ll play, but more importantly, I\u2019ll be concentrating on how I want us to play. And I\u2019m sure that\u2019s what Dave and his team will be doing.<\/p>\n \u201cRassie does that for all the fans. All of us fans jump into that bit.\u201d<\/p>\n Dave Rennie reacts to Springboks\u2019 response to \u2018time wasting\u2019 claim ahead of Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry series<\/a><\/p>\n \u2018Everyone talks about Springboks set-piece, but they\u2019ve grown\u2019 \u2013 All Blacks coach<\/a><\/p>\n How the Springboks boss uses the media to his advantage<\/p>\n During the same press conference, Erasmus said that because World Rugby has decided to stop individual pre-match referee meetings, coaches had to voice their concerns about the game in the media. These meetings are still possible, but both coaches have to be present.<\/p>\n Hansen added that the Boks boss is a master at using the media to get certain messages out.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re talking to the media, there are certain messages you want to put across, and it\u2019s all about doing something that\u2019s going to be positive for your team, and he\u2019s very good at that; he loves it,\u201d the ex-All Blacks coach explained.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not actually the media he\u2019s playing; it\u2019s everybody: the fans, the media and some opposition if they buy into everything he is saying.<\/p>\n