Rassie Erasmus ignites war of words with Warren Gatland as he tweets footage of Owen Farrell’s own high tackle during South Africa ‘A’ defeat – hitting back at Lions head coach claims that Faf de Klerk should’ve been sent off for an illegal hit on Josh Navidi
- South Africa ‘A’ beat the British and Irish Lions 17-13 on Wednesday evening
- Faf de Klerk escaped a red card for a high tackle on Lions flanker Josh Navidi
- Lions head coach Warren Gatland will meet with referees to gain ‘clarity’
- Rassie Erasmus tweeted footage of Owen Farrell’s dubious plays after the win
South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus lit the touch-paper ahead of a Lions series that could ignite next week, sensationally outing Owen Farrell on social media.
The Springboks’ leader took to Twitter on Friday in extraordinary fashion.
Responding to an article based around his counterpart Warren Gatland’s claims that scrum-half Faf de Klerk should have been sent off for hitting Josh Navidi in the head during Wednesday’s South Africa ‘A’ match, Erasmus hit back.
Rassie Erasmus (left) has hit back at Warren Gatland after his remarks about Wednesday night
Gatland claimed that South Africa ‘A’ scrum-half Faf de Klerk should’ve been sent off
Gatland had said he was to meet with the refereeing team to gain ‘clarity’ and to seek ‘complete consistency’ on big calls.
Goading Gatland, Erasmus posted two videos of the same game online, both of England captain Farrell, highlighting what he thinks are incidents of foul play.
The first was Farrell chasing down De Klerk to aggressively wrestle the ball off him, after the referee had stopped play.
Erasmus hit back – citing the conduct of Lions fly-half Owen Farrell (centre) during the match
Taking to Twitter, Erasmus showed footage of Farrell being aggressive on De Klerk after the whistle
Erasmus also shared this footage zooming in on a high Farrell hit on No 8 Jasper Wiese
‘If there is time maybe also get absolute clarity and alignment on this one please, I know its way after the whistle, but let’s just align and get clarity to be sure,’ World Cup winning coach Erasmus said sarcastically.
Then he posted another video, zooming in on a high Farrell hit on No 8 Jasper Wiese.
‘While you (sic) at it please get clarity on this also!! Red, Yellow, penalty or play on? We have to 100% sure and aligned! Can’t agree more,’ he added.
This intervention – while good natured – is sure to ruffle feathers among the Lions.