The one thing that unites South Africans is our shared belief that the world is against us. It is most evident in rugby. When the Springboks lose, we like to blame the referee, not the players. Even as a social scientist aware of my biases, I find it hard not to pinpoint the ref's errors as 'turning points' in the game. The Springboks' director of ruby, Rassie Erasmus, went even further earlier this year, criticising Australian referee Nic Berry (in a private video call that was later leaked to the media) for some blatant errors after the first British and Irish Lions game. One major concern was Berry's disregard for captain Siya Kolisi when he questioned some of his calls. Whether you believe Rassie did the right thing or not, it was quite obvious that the referees in the following two games spent more time explaining their decisions to both captains. Rassie paid a heavy price for his leaked video; he was handed a year-long ban from rugby earlier this month. This month, the Aussie coach
Us against the world
Us against the world
Us against the world
The one thing that unites South Africans is our shared belief that the world is against us. It is most evident in rugby. When the Springboks lose, we like to blame the referee, not the players. Even as a social scientist aware of my biases, I find it hard not to pinpoint the ref's errors as 'turning points' in the game. The Springboks' director of ruby, Rassie Erasmus, went even further earlier this year, criticising Australian referee Nic Berry (in a private video call that was later leaked to the media) for some blatant errors after the first British and Irish Lions game. One major concern was Berry's disregard for captain Siya Kolisi when he questioned some of his calls. Whether you believe Rassie did the right thing or not, it was quite obvious that the referees in the following two games spent more time explaining their decisions to both captains. Rassie paid a heavy price for his leaked video; he was handed a year-long ban from rugby earlier this month. This month, the Aussie coach