Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has responded to accusations that he has leaked misinformation about Scott Robertson’s dismissal.

The news of Robertson and New Zealand Rugby parting ways was broken by the Irish Independent before it was officially confirmed by the union last month.

It’s not uncommon for information to be leaked to the media before official announcements are made but what has puzzled most is the fact that it was a foreign media outlet that got the scoop instead of a local one.

Conspiracy theory

While many have theorised that the leak could have been Rieko Ioane, who is currently on a playing sabbatical with Leinster or even Jordie Barrett, who did the same last season, the New Zealand Herald stunningly pointed to Erasmus.

In a column detailing what could be next for the now-former head coach Robertson, renowned journalist Gregor Paul suggested that Erasmus was using his Irish media contacts, obtained during his time with Munster, to ‘peddle misinformation’ about the player power that reportedly played a major role in Robertson’s exit.

The working theory is that Erasmus is somehow plugged into the New Zealand network and is using the strong links he formed with specific Irish media while he was coach of Munster to work an agenda that destabilises the All Blacks, Paul wrote.

He added that Robertson’s best chances of landing an international job could be with the Springboks, as ‘far-fetched’ as that seems.

“It would be straight out of Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus’s playbook to hire Robertson later this year to try to spook the All Blacks,” he added.

Erasmus has since caught wind of the accusation and has taken to social media with his response, sharing a screenshot of a post from this author about the conspiracy theory, accompanied by a video of Off The Ball’s Ger Gilroy mocking the Springboks head coach in 2023.

“Used my Irish media contact to spread information,” Erasmus sarcastically captioned the post with a winking emoji.

Next All Blacks boss

Meanwhile, it is reported that New Zealand Rugby will reveal Robertson’s successor as early as next week, with former Wallabies boss Dave Rennie and current Highlanders head coach Jamie Joseph viewed as the clear frontrunners.

NZ Rugby advertised the position, revealing that potential candidates must have international head coaching experience and be a New Zealander. The aforementioned pair both fit the requirements, with Joseph overseeing a successful period of Japanese rugby, leading the team through to their first-ever Rugby World Cup quarter-final in 2019.

The Brave Blossoms were less successful in 2023 after which Joseph stepped down from the role and was replaced by Eddie Jones. Since then, he has returned to the Highlanders who notched up an opening day victory over the Crusaders in round one of the 2025 Super Rugby Pacific season.

Meanwhile, Rennie has enjoyed success throughout his coaching career starting with the Chiefs, with whom he won back-to-back Super Rugby titles in 2012 and 2013 – his first two seasons in charge. In 2017, he took charge of Glasgow Warriors, replacing Gregor Townsend, who had been named as the Scotland head coach.

He wasn’t able to deliver trophies at Scotstoun but did lead the side to a PRO12 semi-final and final before he was confirmed as the new Wallabies head coach, taking over from Michael Cheika after the 2019 World Cup.

Rennie was shockingly dismissed a year out from the tournament in 2023 and has since been working in Japan, coaching the Kobe Kobelco Steelers. The club has enjoyed a strong start to the 2025/26 season, winning six of the opening seven games of the season to rank third on the league table.