'A black Springbok captain is a flammable situation'

SPOTLIGHT: South Africa's Director Rassie Erasmus has revealed the amount of flak he copped for appointing Siyamthanda Kolisi as the Springbok captain.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Erasmus addressed several pressing issues - ahead and during last year's British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa.

One topic that he discussed in-depth was the infamous 62-minute video in which he criticised controversial Australian referee Nic Berry after the first Test.

The 2019 World Cup-winning coach also revealed how he received criticism for handing the Springbok captain's armband to Kolisi.

Erasmus appointed Kolisi as Bok captain in 2018 – the first black Test captain of the Boks – when he became coach of the national side.

Erasmus admitted it was a huge struggle to get people, especially his friends to believe in his decision.

"I lost a lot of friends when I made Siya captain," Erasmus told the Daily Mail.

"There was a lot of nastiness.

"Before the World Cup, my daughters' friends' parents would say, 'Tell that f****** father of yours to stop sucking up for a paycheque. People said it was political. The fight to get people to believe in Siya was a real struggle."

Despite the backlash, Erasmus stuck with the captain and Kolisi lead the team against the B&I lions.

"Before the first Test, I had a meeting with the match officials," Erasmus said, adding: "I explained to the referee that the Springboks had not played for two years since the World Cup and our captain Kolisi would be up against a team with four international captains.

"I knew from experience how they intimidate referees, so I asked that he must give Siya the same respect as Alun Wyn Jones, to which he agreed.

"People outside of South Africa might not understand this fully, but having a black Springbok captain is a flammable situation in our country."

He explained: "When I was the water carrier during that first Test, I was close to the action and I could see that Siya was not getting heard. Those people who always questioned Siya came back out and said, 'See Rassie, you f***** this up, we were right all along'.

"I'm not saying Nic Berry is racist. Absolutely not. 100 percent. I actually think he is a cool guy.

"But when you are in a volatile country with 54 million black people and six million white people than you at least need a conversation. I didn't understand why Siya's messages weren't getting through: do they think he's an a**hole?"

Source: DailyMail