Coach Rassie Erasmus has promised to stand by No 8 Jasper Wiese as he fights the consequences of his red card in Saturday’s 45-0 drubbing of Italy in Port Elizabeth.
The result came in spite of Wiese being red-carded in the 22nd minute for a headbutt on Italian prop Danilo Fischetti.
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Erasmus addressed Wiese’s red card to the media directly after the match, expressing support while deferring judgment.
“I’m not able to say it was right or wrong or how bad it was. Jasper must now handle that with our support. He is just so committed and passionate about the team, and it would have been wonderful for him to play in this game with his brother (Cobus), which didn’t now happen.”
“It’s sad, he’s not a guy that goes out there to do those kinds of things, but I don’t want to say anything here that can make it better or worse because I’m not 100 percent sure what is the best way to take it forward,” the Bok mentor said.
Looking at the bigger picture, Erasmus said he was pleased with how the squad is building toward the Rugby Championship.
“The Barbarian game we didn’t concede a lot of points in a tough rainy game there – we got a 50 there, we got 42 last week and 45 here and only conceded 24 points against Italy and, overall, a lot of the guys got caps. So, hopefully after the Georgia game a lot of the guys will have had two caps, and we will have won all four matches, and we can pick a nice settled, balanced team for the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.”
The Springboks wrap up their incoming series against Georgia at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on 19 July.
Photo by Richard Huggard/Gallo Images
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