Rugby World Cup: the mystery of the colored lights used by South Africans elucidated

The South African staff surprised everyone this Sunday in Marseille with the use of strange light and circular signals. During the victory against Scotland (18-3), the director of rugby Rassie Erasmus lit these fires several times in the direction of the field. Secret boot? Sophisticated tactics? Attempted destabilization?

It is actually a simple means of communication with the players and the members of the staff present at the edge of the lawn, to transmit instructions despite the distance and the noise. “I don't know if you went to the edge of the field or near it, but the noise is so phenomenal that we can't hear each other. It's difficult to speak directly to our staff, ”explained coach Jacques Nienaber, who set up the thing against France during the November tour, at a press conference. In Marseille, already.

The former Munster clarified that he was already using the system with the Irish team. Especially at the time of injury, "red announced a replacement, orange meant that we could wait a bit and green that everything was fine." Against Scotland, we could see the signal when Eben Etzebeth was injured, hit in the shoulder and replaced in the first half.

The system would also have been used at the time of penalties, to ask the South African striker, Manie Libbok, to take the points. Is this legal? “Communication can be done by hand signals. I don't think we need permission from World Rugby for that,” said Jacques Nienaber.

Rugbyrama reports that Rassie Erasmus, director of rugby for the Springboks, during his time in charge of the Bloemfontein Cheetahs used colorful signs and disco lights on the stadium roof to send his instructions. This earned him the nickname "DJ Rassie" by the South African press.