Rassie's disco lights: Cracking the code
SPOTLIGHT: The reemergence of Rassie Erasmus' disco lights have caused a stir. @rugby365com went 'deep underground' to see if we could crack the code and figure out what those signals mean.
Erasmus, the world's most famous waterboy and South Africa's Director of Rugby, was first spotted using his now famed disco lights at the World Cup during the Springboks' 18-3 win over Scotland in a first-round match in Marseille.
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber played it down, suggesting that the lights system was just to talk to medical personnel because of the high noise levels in the stadium made it difficult to hear and other audio channels were consumed by 'tactical talk'.
However, Erasmus in his recent autobiography, confirmed what everybody knew - the system, first introduced during his coaching days with the Cheetahs, was also for tactical reasons.
We wanted to know what each colour means and what 'messages' are they actually trying to convey?
Were we surprised?
It has nothing to do with tactics or injuries.
Below is a 'clarification' of what message each light sends.