Assistant coach says director of rugby will be ‘running the water’Mzwandile Stick: ‘We’ll see the egos between the four lines’South Africa have confirmed their director of rugby, Rassie Erasmus, will continue to act as a water carrier on Saturday in the first Test against the
British &
Irish Lions, before dismissing Warren Gatland’s “mind games” following his claim that the tourists had already dented the Springboks’ egos.
![Erasmus to continue water-carrying role as ‘mindgame’ talk dismissed](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/76b29c9c09a65ad08dccb23d776a23b097f05ddf/152_0_3899_2340/master/3899.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=dda05869142da042f7b359a5ffcd0525)
Gatland drew attention to Erasmus’s role given it allows him to enter the pitch and pass messages directly to players – but the Springboks have insisted the 2019 World Cup-winning head coach is only carrying water.