At the Vélodrome stadium,
Traffic lights in the heart of the Vélodrome stadium. This is not the last solution found by the organization to smooth the flow of supporters after the access difficulties encountered during the match between England and Argentina on Saturday evening, but that of the Springboks to facilitate their communications. South Africa used red, orange and green lights on Sunday to communicate on the nature of the injuries with the medical staff during the victory against Scotland (18-13), in this Rugby World Cup 2023.
DJ Rassie
Springbok defense consultant Felix Jones has waved these lights on several occasions, as seen on TV broadcasts. “Red for a serious injury, orange we give ourselves a 5-10 minute delay and green if all goes well”, detailed Jacques Nienaber, the Springboks coach, after the meeting.
A technique already used when he was on the Munster side during the 2016/2017 season, by his own admission. And which he resorted to this time in the face of the shambles of the Vélodrome stadium, “at the edge or near the field the noise is phenomenal so it’s difficult to speak with our staff”, he put forward as the main explanation.
Nothing tactical therefore, but a system which allows other means of communication to be left free. “It’s an easy way to use and which also allows free radio waves to communicate the tactics to our technical staff”, moreover specified Jacques Nienaber, questioned twice on this particularity at the end of the match. Former South African player and coach Rassie Erasmus even earned the nickname DJ Rassie after using those same traffic lights in the 2006/2007 season.