OPINION: No lack of motivation for Boks following World Rugby’s Rassie verdict

Outraged at the sanctions that World Rugby meted out to former World Cup-winning coach and now Director of Rugby, Rassie Erasmus, the Boks will be eager to find justice on the field after Erasmus was banned from any live matches for the next two months.

The censure by World Ruby came after an hour-long video rant of Erasmus emerged, in which he berated referee Nic Berry for his handling of the first British & Irish Lions Test in Cape Town.

In addition, Bok fans were further angered because Erasmus will be side-lined from any match day activities – even media duties – until September next year.

The sentence which shocked local scribes and fans alike, was delivered just days before tomorrow’s clash, resulting in a laager of sorts being formed around the Bok team.

An “us against them” mentality appears to be taking shape within South African rugby circles and this will not change anytime soon.

In fact, with the final whistle blowing on the Boks’ extended season tomorrow, a new battle will go into full swing; the battle between the South African Rugby Union and World Rugby.

This is a fight that will have no winners. South Africa will become more isolated and be seen as a country of whingers, while World Rugby which has not exactly covered itself in glory with the way they have seemingly protected sub-standard officiating for so long – will continue being seen as aloof and an ‘Old Boys’ club that refuses to acknowledge the changing nature of the game.

If social media is anything to go by, the notion of good old rugby values is a thing of the past as the professionalisation of the game has brought many unresolved issues to the fore; officiating being just one of them.

So as the match kicks off tomorrow afternoon, the Boks will be fired up from this week’s happenings, and they’ll be looking convert any sense of injustice into a statement result against a depleted England.

But this is the start of a bigger battle which from the looks of it, will do South African and World Rugby irreparable harm and drag the game down with it. As an old proverb goes, when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.

Rugby will definitely suffer and not grow with this week’s events.