Local rugby coaches fed up with Rassie's ref tirades - report

SA Rugby and local coaches are believed to be irate at director of rugby Rassie Erasmus over his conduct.

Erasmus was on Thursday banned for two matches by World Rugby after he posted several tweets highlighting refereeing errors. It followed South Africa's narrow defeats to Ireland (19-16) in Dublin and France (30-26) in Marseille.

Rapport newspaper reported on Sunday that SA Rugby considered sending Erasmus home early from the Springboks' year-end tour of Europe.

According to the report, the governing body's president Mark Alexander, who is also in Europe alongside CEO Jurie Roux, was furious after the latest debacle. When probed for comment though, Alexander said they "do not discuss personnel matters in the media".

The Afrikaans publication added that Erasmus' suspension was merely a temporary measure to get him away from matches and out of the media, and that World Rugby was considering taking the matter further.

Furthermore, Rapport added that several local coaches and union bosses feel Erasmus' behaviour is selfish, that his ban is tarnishing SA Rugby's image and that it will have a negative affect on SA's URC teams playing abroad.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a prominent rugby boss said: "We are sick of it. It has to stop now, he has gone too far."

A leading local coach added: "We are so unhappy about this, it is incredibly amateurish and unprofessional. He is the director of rugby in South Africa. There are other teams other than the Boks that also need his attention.

"I feel good progress has been made since last year's disastrous start to the United Rugby Championship. But since then things have gone south again in terms of communication with overseas referees."

Another coach said Eramsus' tweets were ironic as