Rassie Erasmus laughs off wild conspiracy theory
Springbok boss Rassie Erasmus has responded to being linked with two wildly contrasting stories related to the former All Blacks coach.
There is a phrase called ‘silly season’ which is often used in reference to sports transfer stories, due to the wild speculation that often comes about on these topics, and Rassie Erasmus has now similarly – and rather comically – been dragged into some wild speculation.
It traces back to the bombshell news last month that Zealand Rugby had taken the quite unexpected step of axing Scott Robertson just two years into his tenure.
While various reporting cited on-field performance and dressing room culture as key issues, another conspiracy theory began circulating that Robertson was the victim of a sophisticated “influence campaign”.
When the Irish Independent quite surprisingly beat several of New Zealand’s own local reporters to the scoop about Robertson’s axing and the details behind it, some crazy speculation somehow traced back to Erasmus.
The bizarre suggestion was that he could have used connections from his time with Irish club Munster to spread information and ‘destabilise’ the All Blacks.
It may seem beyond belief, but Erasmus did actually take note of this wild theory on social media, and issued a sarcastic response that clearly indicated nothing could be further from the truth.
“Used my Irish media contact to spread information,” he posted with a winking face emoji that spoke volumes.
RASSIE ERASMUS HAS LAUGHED OFF THE LATEST WILD STORY
STORY GOES FURTHER
What makes the latest conspiracy theories seemingly worthy of a Hollywood sports movie is the fact that other reports have now emerged to suggest that perhaps Erasmus is now looking to rope Robertson into the Springbok coaching group.
New Zealand Herald rugby writer Gregor Paul has suggested that while unlikely, the move is not entirely impossible, speculating that it “would be straight out of Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus’ playbook to hire Robertson later this year to try to spook the All Blacks”.
“While this may seem far-fetched, arguably Robertson’s best chance of landing a role is with the Springboks,” he wrote.
“Rassie knows that with the Springboks destined to meet the All Blacks in the quarter-final of next year’s (World Cup) tournament, how unsettling it would be for New Zealand to have a narrative running about their former coach having switched sides”.
Funnily enough, the reporter himself admitted such a move “feels the longest of Hollywood long shots”, yet again indicating that you shouldn’t always believe everything you read.
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