The former Wales coach has once again spoken about accusations of spying by the Springboks during the 2021 Lions tour
Rassie Erasmus has strongly denied allegations made by Warren Gatland that the Springboks spied on the British and Irish Lions during their 2021 tour of South Africa, labelling the claims as baseless and calling for an end to what he described as “misinformation”.
Speaking after South Africa’s 42-24 win over Italy at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, Erasmus, who also went on to accuse Wales themselves of spying in 2021, expressed his frustration over Gatland’s accusations, which were detailed in the former Lions boss’s latest column for The Telegraph.
Gatland alleged that the Springbok camp rented a property overlooking the Lions’ training facility and used a long-lens camera to film their preparations.
He said suspicions within the Lions setup were confirmed when Lukhanyo Am produced a perfectly-timed hit on Elliot Daly during the opening Test.
The former Wales coach also claimed Erasmus was seen on the pitch during a match, disguised as a water carrier, holding a sheet that appeared to include the Lions’ attacking plays.
“One of the photographers captured a shot of him holding the paper next to Faf de Klerk,” Gatland wrote. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack for the exclusive five-week tour diary from Japan and Australia.
“We enlarged the image after the game and it looked like some of our moves and calls were on that sheet.”
Gatland said the Lions were so concerned they relocated training sessions indoors to avoid being watched.
“We just didn’t know how they could have so much information on us,” he added.
Erasmus initially responded with sarcastic posts on social media, but after the win over Italy, he addressed the issue directly and called on Gatland to put an end to the claims.
“It must stop now,” Erasmus said. “If we’re going to go through every bizarre and unlikely story, there’ll be a lot more of these kinds of tales.
“I don’t want people thinking this kind of thing actually happens in rugby.
“There are always strange rumours around training sessions and coaches trying to outsmart each other, but this is different. To make such a serious claim in a newspaper based purely on hearsay is irresponsible.
“It just creates unnecessary tension. I’d like us to move on and stop discussing it all together.”
Erasmus actually went on to accuse Wales of spying in the autumn of 2021, however Gatland was not head coach at that time.
The Springboks were forced to evacuate their Cardiff hotel twice overnight before playing Wales and Erasmus has now claimed information had been taken when they returned.
Responding to a WalesOnline social media post, Erasmus said: “I hear from a source from within the Wales [sic] camp that whilst we were evacuated all our notes and plans were photographed and the white board sheets taken.
“We were again forced at around 06h00 for [sic] another evacuation!!”
