Rassie Erasmus blasts 'reckless' Mako Vunipola after Kolbe incident - Ruck

Rassie Erasmus blasts ‘reckless’ Mako Vunipola after Kolbe incident

South Africa Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus has blasted Lions prop Mako Vunipola after he ‘dangerously’ man handled ‘injured’ Cheslin Kolbe.

The Springbok speedster, who has been dubbed the Lionel Messi of rugby in recent weeks, landed heavily after competing in the air with Ali Price midway through the second half.

He lay on the floor covering his face in pain, appearing to milk the situation for a potential penalty.

This appeared to irritate Vunipola as the replacement came over to Kolbe and lifted the 74kg winger straight back to his feet and stripped the ball.

However, Erasmus was incensed by the situation, writing about it on Twitter today.

“Cheslin (Kolbe) is obviously played in the air and clearly not direct into touch!!” wrote Erasmus on Twitter.

“More importantly for youngsters watching this clip!!!!

“Please never move or touch an injured player on the ground, its reckless and dangerous!”

EDITORS PICKS:

The four changes Warren Gatland will ‘likely’ make to his Lions XV

#1. Liam Williams for Stuart Hogg

Wales Online: “The Scot may have had his moments as a counter-attacker in the opener but looked fallible at times in defence and was on the scene as the Lions went through a comic-cuts sketch near the end which almost gifted South Africa a try. There were also three Hogg turnovers”

Our verdict: As ever, he tried to be pragmatic with the ball in hand, but he spilt high bombs and served up an awful pass to Henshaw which led to a Springbok three points. Williams would be better suited to the Springbok juggernaut.

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