Rassie Erasmus: 'Zebo's 'Rassie hates the Irish' comments will spice up the Ireland v Boks test'

South African head coach Rassie Erasmus has claimed he has spoken to former Ireland and Munster player Simon Zebo about comments he made about him hating the Irish.

Erasmus's South Africa and Ireland will meet in two tests next month in a mouth-watering test series. However, there have been back-and-forth verbal jabs aimed at both sides, mostly from the South African side.

For example, Damian de Allende, a former Munster player, Eben Etzebeth, and Cheslin Kolbe have also made remarks towards the Irish team ahead of the tour this summer.

Zebo also had his take on the comments made by South African players and said, “It was a little bit extra around South Africa because Rassie had coached us here at Munster and Jacques Nienaber is now coaching at Leinster, and there is a big rivalry.

“Rassie hates the Irish. He really doesn’t like us, which is quite funny. It will build up even more, and it will drip-feed into the players.

“RG Snyman and Jean Kleyn have been copping a little bit of flak over it."

Erasmus, who is a much-maligned figure in world rugby, was asked about Zebo's line about him hating the Irish despite knowing the players and having spent time with Munster.

🗣️Rassie Erasmus responds to Simon Zebo's comments that he 'hates the Irish, he really, really doesn’t like us':

"Simon Zebo messaged me, people who know him would know he's a joke and every chance he gets, he makes a joke or a little crack here and
there," Erasmus said.

"He… pic.twitter.com/vKZynatqt2

— Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) June 26, 2024

The 51-year-old admitted he spoke to Zebo on the phone about the context of the comments, and rather than tell Zebo off, he told the Corkman not to apologise. Erasmus added that Zebo's comments have added further spice to the contest next month.

"Just on the Simon Zebo thing. He messaged me: people who know Simon Zebo will know he's a joker. Every chance he gets, he makes a joke or a crack here or there.

"He immediately messaged me and said, "Look, that came out totally wrong. They don't even understand what I was trying to say."

"He apologised and said he must go back on air and rectify it.

"I said, "No, no, it's spiced up. Let's keep it that way."

Ireland's first Test against the Boks will be on Saturday, July 6, in Pretoria. Then they will head to Durban for the second and final test on Saturday, July 13.

Sky Sports will show both tests in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Ireland Squad: Summer Tour 2024:

Player/Club/Province/Caps

Forwards:

Ryan Baird (Dublin University/Leinster) 20
Finlay Bealham (Buccaneers/Connacht) 40
Tadhg Beirne (Lansdowne/Munster) 50
Caelan Doris (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 41
Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster) 76
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster) 129
Rob Herring (Ulster/Ballynahinch) 39
Cormac Izuchukwu (Ulster/Ballynahinch)
Oli Jager (Munster) 1
Ronan Kelleher (Lansdowne/Leinster): 31
Joe McCarthy (Dublin University/Leinster) 10
Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) (captain) 105
Tom O’Toole (Ballynahinch/Ulster) 13
Andrew Porter (UCD/Leinster) 64
Cian Prendergast (UCD/Connacht) 3
James Ryan (UCD/Leinster) 62
Dan Sheehan (Lansdowne/Leinster) 26
Nick Timoney (Banbridge/Ulster) 3
Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster) 62

Backs:

Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht) 56
Caolin Blade (Galwegians/Connacht) 2
Craig Casey (Shannon/Munster) 14
Jack Crowley (Cork Constitution/Munster) 14
Ciaran Frawley (UCD/Leinster) 4
Robbie Henshaw (Buccaneers/Leinster) 72
Jordan Larmour (St Mary’s College/Leinster) 32
James Lowe (Leinster): 31
Stuart McCloskey (Bangor/Ulster) 17
Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster) 116
Calvin Nash (Young Munster/Munster) 6
Jimmy O’Brien (Naas/Leinster) 8
Jamie Osborne (Naas/Leinster)
Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Garry Ringrose (UCD/Leinster): 58
Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster) 37

* denotes uncapped player

Unavailable: Jamison Gibson-Park (hamstring injury) and Jack Conan (personal reasons).

Summer Tour 2024 Fixtures:

Saturday, July 6: South Africa vs. Ireland, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria (5pm local time/4 p.m. Irish time)
Saturday, July 13: South Africa vs. Ireland, Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban (5pm local time/4 p.m. Irish time).

Ireland Rugby: Summer Internationals 2024