Warren Gatland has claimed that the Springboks spied on his British & Irish Lions squad during their 2021 tour of South Africa.
Writing in a column for The Telegraph, the former Lions coach suggested that the Bok coaching staff – led by Rassie Erasmus – had access to information about their training sessions while the team was based in Hermanus.
South Africa won the lockdown-affected series 2-1, but the tightly contested tour was overshadowed by multiple controversies, including Erasmus’ leaked video criticising match officials, which led to a lengthy suspension from World Rugby.
Now, Gatland has added another layer to the 2021 drama, saying the Lions suspected they were being filmed while preparing for the Test matches.
“We felt that during the tour we were spied on while we were based at the Arabella Country Estate near the coastal town of Hermanus,” wrote Gatland. “The Covid restrictions meant we had to stay there during the three Tests, which were moved to Cape Town to reduce the risk of infection
We trained at the nearby Hermanus High School and although we had security guards checking out the potential sites where cameras could be placed, there was only so much they could do.”
The Lions coach also highlighted Erasmus’ presence on the field and a photo showing him carrying what appeared to be a sheet of the Lions’ plays.
“Rassie was also on the pitch acting as a ‘water boy,’ carrying a piece of paper … we enlarged the photo which showed that there were some of our moves and calls on it.”
Gatland went as far as to claim they later heard that a nearby house had been rented for surveillance purposes.
“Later on … I talked to someone who is well-connected in South Africa, who told me that a house that overlooked our training pitch had been rented for the duration of the series and that a long-lens camera had been placed in the top corner of the house to record us.”
“It was so frustrating because … if the opposition knows what [your plans] are, they can plan to defend them,” he added.
