South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus has doubled down on his refusal to comply with World Rugby's requirement for head coaches to meet referees before matches, calling the situation "impossible".
The Springboks boss had already criticised the governing body's insistence that both head coaches attend pre-match meetings with officials ahead of his side's opening Test defeat to New Zealand. Speaking in a press conference last week, he argued that the demand forces coaches to voice their concerns about officiating in the media instead.
Both he and All Blacks boss Dave Rennie confirmed they would not meet referee Matthew Carley before the first Test in Johannesburg, which the tourists won 33-16.
Second meeting snubbed
Erasmus has now confirmed he will also skip a meeting with this weekend's referee, Nika Amashukeli, insisting it is "impossible" to discuss concerns with officials in the presence of an opposition coach without revealing his side's gameplan.
“In my opinion, it’s impossible to discuss something with the referee with the other coach present,” the Springboks boss told reporters on Tuesday. “I’m going to say, ‘Listen, we are concerned about this in the scrums,’ and he’s going to say, ‘But we do this in the scrums’.
“The meetings were always about what you were going to try and do on the day, so they can be prepped for what your plans are in the game.
"So you might say, listen, these guys really clean out well at the breakdown; if we get trapped in the breakdown and they hold us down, what can we do to get up? Will you be looking at that, or must we find a way using them to get off the ground?
“But you can’t have that discussion in front of the referee; then the opposition coach knows that’s what you’re looking at,” he added.
“So what do you discuss with the referee? Boys, are you going to play within the laws? Are you going to do this? I mean, the laws of the game are the laws, so it’s almost impossible.”
Private catch-up planned
While Erasmus has rejected World Rugby's demand to sit down with Amashukeli and Rennie, he revealed he plans to meet the All Blacks boss later this week as their teams prepare to face each other again.
“Dave and I had a beer after [the first Test] and we’re going to try and catch up on Friday for a beer in Cape Town, when we were there before the game, but without the referee,” said the South Africa boss.
“In my opinion, there’s no logic behind two coaches meeting together and discussing the laws with the referees.”
