Rassie Erasmus said that the Springboks opted not to cite Sam Cane after the All Blacks flanker personally apologised for the tackle that resulted in Siya Kolisi’s facial injury. DYLAN JACK reports.
Kolisi, who took a blow to the face during the win against New Zealand at Ellis Park, will captain a rejigged Bok lineup in Cape Town on Saturday.
TEAM: Siya cleared to tackle All Blacks
The Bok skipper suffered a fractured nose after being tackled by All Blacks flank Cane. Though Kolisi tried to battle on, he was substituted at the start of the final quarter. Referee Andrew Brace told Kolisi that the tackle was checked by the TMO and ruled as only warranting a penalty.
Cane was not cited for the tackle, as the Citing Commissioner ruled that it did not meet the red card threshold and has retained his place in the All Blacks’ starting lineup.
While discussing Kolisi’s injury, Erasmus revealed that he decided not to cite Cane, after former All Blacks captain apologised. Erasmus also opened up on his relationship with Cane, which stems back to when the loose forward suffered an broken neck during a clash with the Springboks in his 60th Test appearance in 2018.
“Siya’s injury was obviously when Sam hit him,” Erasmus said.
“I will never forget when Sam broke his neck during a game against us at Ellis Park. I visited him on the Monday morning. The All Blacks had already flown back to New Zealand. I broke my jaw while playing in Sydney. I know how lonely it gets in a foreign country. You are alone, you don’t know how the medical aid works or how good the doctors are.
“So we know each other a little bit closer than the other All Blacks. I had a coffee and chat with him. You could see he was going through a tough time. A neck injury can stop your whole career.
“To be honest with you, I don’t think he did that tackle on purpose. A yellow card might have been appropriate or a penalty. But I told him afterwards that we weren’t going to cite him. You have 12 hours after a game to cite a player. If the Citing Commissioner picked it up and thought it met the red card threshold, then he would investigate, but they went through everything and it didn’t come up.
“Sam came over and apologised. When you look at the action, yes, he could go a bit lower, but it was just a head-on-head. It wasn’t the shoulder. Sometimes it goes for you and against you. The poor guy was red carded in a World Cup final. It wouldn’t have been nice to see him get a red card again.”
Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
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Src: sarugbymag.co.za
