South Africa's Rugby World Cup tactic splits opinion but has simple explanation

10 September 2023 , 19:32

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A South Africa coach holds up a light to signal the tactics to the players (Image: ITV)

Rugby fans were at odds after South Africa employed their bizarre 'traffic light' tactic during their Rugby World Cup opener against Scotland.

The Springboks went in 6-3 up at the break in their opening pool game before eventually pulling away to win 18-3. Second-half fries from Pieter-Steph du Toit and Kurt-Lee Arendse put the game out of sight, but it was South Africa's antics before Manie Libbok's first-half penalty which caught the eye.

After the penalty was awarded, South Africa's coach Felix Jones could be seen holding up a red light. It was part of a straightforward approach to communicate with the players inside the deafening noise of the stadiums - in this case recommending Libbok kick for goal - but not everyone is a fan.

"Are South Africa coaches allowed to signal the team with a big red light from the coaching box?" asked one social media user. "Rassie [coach Rassie Erasmus] really does know all the tricks," was the verdict from another.

"Not a fan of South Africa using a light to make decisions from the stand," was another argument. "Having a captain in rugby is meaningful in large part because they have to make these decisions. Basically a soccer captain now."

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Not all the feedback was negative, though. "So what," said one supporter. "It's called being alert".

"No difference to water carriers being miked up or any other form of message passing," another argued. "Personally I’d be more concerned if my skipper can’t / isn’t allowed to make those calls for themselves!"

Are you a fan of South Africa's traffic light system? Have your say in the comments section

South Africa's players can see the coaching team delivering their instructions from the stands (AP)

The coaching wasn't the only thing which caused controversy in the match. South Africa's outside centre Jesse Kriel was involved in a head-to-head collision with Scotland's Jack Dempsey in the early stages of the game, but avoided a red card despite England's Tom Curry suffering that punishment for a similar incident on Saturday.

“Absolutely, the confusion is the TMO says ‘we’re always looking’, yet two minutes into the game and there’s an incident which [should be] a red card," pundit John Barclay said during ITV's coverage of the game. "It’s head on head, that’s a red card, the way the game is refereed now, whether you like it or not, that is a red card.

The tactic was on show before Manie Libbok converted a penalty (AP)

"If there's going to be consistency in the World Cup, it has to apply to everyone," was the verdict from Sir Ian McGeechan. "Tom Curry got the red card yesterday, that should be a red card today.”

Fans will no doubt be waiting to see if South Africa's traffic light system returns in their next pool game, against Romania on September 17. The Europeans are coming off an 82-8 hammering against Ireland in their own opener, with Ireland scoring 12 tries during the match.

Tom Victor