'World Cups have never been won by eight tries' Rassie Erasmus' Springboks vision
Rassie Erasmus’s first press conference of 2019 delivered plenty of soundbites, as the South African coach covered everything from the national style of play, losing the financial war against European clubs, to who will coach the Springboks next.
As part of a radical new contracting strategy announced recently, ‘dozens’ of home-based players will be taken into Springbok succession planning next year. The systemic overhaul is a result of South Africa’s inability to keep up with overseas offers with the weakening exchange rate.
“We are struggling with a massive exchange rate and clubs on the other side who don’t always have a business model, has a rich owner with a lot of money.
“He can spend that money, whether the player is worth it or. If we compete with that all the time, we will exhaust our budget. For us, succession planning on this side would be impossible.”
“We just can’t bat in that area anymore,” the Bok coach said, adding: “Those guys just have too much money. We have decided to spread our money through more players.”
Going hand-in-hand with the policy is the intention to formally scrap the 30-cap rule for overseas-based players, something that Erasmus already had exercised in practice with the use of overseas talent like Faf de Klerk, Willie le Roux and Cheslin Kolbe in 2018. Instead of fighting against the current, Erasmus is prepared to swim with it in order to return the national side to glory.
In explaining the extreme overhaul, he made it clear that it is because succession planning is something that has been lacking in South Africa.
“You are not sure how many players you will lose at the end of this year.
“We have to sort out this wider succession plan first before we give more attention to that,” he said.
Rassie’s wide-ranging review extends past player retention issues and into the search for his replacement as head coach after he moves into the Director of Rugby role, the one he initially signed up for when he signed his six-year contract.
“Then it’s about making succession plans for coaches, and I include black coaches, because this has been a big issue. With the pool of pro players getting smaller, the pool of pro coaches will get smaller too. Once we get the succession planning of the players right, we will move on to that.
When it comes to just who will be sitting in the coaches box in 12 months time, Erasmus already has an idea of who he would like to step in.
“I’ve begun the process in my own head,’ he said. ‘There are a few names being bounced around. I would be stupid to say who those names are right now, though.
The long-term view will hopefully have South African rugby firing by 2023, but that isn’t to say this year’s World Cup is just a stepping stone. Erasmus will be going to Japan to win, having re-shaped the way the Springboks play tests to a more traditional game which he says he is noticing now at Super Rugby level.
“World Cups have never been won by eight tries,” he said.
“It’s always been high-pressure games and the end of the game it’s a penalty here or a drop goal there.
“If you don’t start accepting that mindset, and how important are penalties, discipline, kicking game, defence — and by all means attack — but if all of a sudden you want to instill that at Test match level it’s too late. The players understand that.
“This game isn’t all about X-factor, all about a brilliant moment; it’s almost like the [South African Super Rugby] teams are trying tactically to squeeze results out of each other, and to be honest I’m enjoying that.”
The Bulls 40-3 victory over the Stormers springs to mind as one example. Erasmus believes the message is filtering down from players involved with the team in 2018.
“A lot of players were in the Springboks mix last season, and they’ve gone back to their franchises; what we’re trying to do at Springboks level does get filtered down through those players. Those players know what they must be able to do when they get to us.
“We do see a lot of stuff with the franchise coaches but they all have their own flavour, especially when it comes to the tactical game, and we don’t want to take that away.
“But there’s certainly some stuff flowing through from the national side, and vice versa.”
Comments on RugbyPass
If Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to commentsBest team ever…. To have played? These guys are still pressure chokers. Came nowhere when it counted. What a joke
69 Go to commentsMusk defends anonymous terrorism, fascism, threats against individuals and children etc etc But a Rugby club account….lock ‘em up!!!
1 Go to commentsActually the era defining moment came a few years earlier. February 2002 to be precise, when Michael D Higgins as finance minister at the time introduced his sports persons tax relief bill to the dial. As the politicians of the day stated “It seems to be another daft K Club frolic born in Kildare amongst the well-paid professional jockeys with whom the Minister plays golf” and that the scheme represented “a savage uncaring vision of Ireland and one that should be condemned”. The irfu and Leinster would be nowhere near the position they are in today without this key component of the finances.
2 Go to commentsIt is crystal clear that people who make such threats on line should be tried and imprisoned. Those with responsibility in social media companies who don’t facilitate this should be convicted. In real life, I have free speech to approach someone like Reinach and verbally threaten him. I am risking a conviction or a slap but I could do it. In the old days, If someone anonymously threatened someone by letter the police would ask and use evidence from the postal system. Unlike the Post, social media companies have complete instant and legal access to the content in social media. They make money from the data, billions. Yet, they turn a blind eye to terrorism, Nazi-ism and industrial levels of threats against individuals including their address and childrens schools being published online all from ananoymous accounts not real people. They claim free speech. Free speech for anonymous trolls/voilent thugs threatening people under false names? The fault is with the perps but also social media companies who think anonymous personas posting death threats constitutes free speech.
2 Go to commentsSo if this ain’t the best Irish team ever then who exactly is? I don’t remember any other Irish team being this good & winning a series in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Yes I may rip them often for 8 X QF RWC exits & twice not even making it to the QF, but they’re a damn good team who many think can only improve, including me!
69 Go to commentsNot a squeek out of Leinster for weeks about this match. So quiet. The first team have been quitely building for this encounter under Nienaber’s direction. All fresh, all highly motivated. They are expecting a season’s best performance from Northhampton. They will match that. They will be fresher and apparently they will have 80,000 out of the 83,000 shouting for them. I do expect Northhampton to turn up big time. Not to be missed. On a tangent it is evident how the loss of a few Premiership teams has in some respect helped other Premiership teams and England. More quality over less teams makes the teams better, which has a knock on effect on England. Not the only factor contributing to England’s rise but one of them.
2 Go to commentsOur very own monster teddy bear Ox😍💪
17 Go to commentsThis is might be the most generalised, entitled, patronising, out-of-pocket cultural indictment on a group of people you’ll ever see on what is supposedly a sports publication. I can only assume the author is weak like a woman or homosexual. I’m feeling an incredible range of emotions but I am not quite sure how to express them. I might go beat up a hockey player - assuming that’s okay with Duane and the boys? 🙂
9 Go to commentsBest thing the Welsh clubs could do is apply to join Gallagher prem surely be more exciting matches for there support than they have now.
2 Go to commentsRugbyPass writers are useless! you guys should get a real job because you all suck at writing about rugby!!!
9 Go to commentslooking forward to RWC2027 …. Boks on mission impossible for the Three-in-a-row, ABs to prove they being on par, France wishing to crown the “DuPont-era”, Ireland knocking on the Semi-Door ….. until then we’ll probably have to deal with Weird Ben’s fantasy-RWC23 (fun fact is, the drivel always creates a flooding of comments) …..
222 Go to commentsBen Smith you really make some good points in this article, the Springboks were not close to perfect and good still beat the All Blacks, imagine if they were as good as they were against France what a hiding the All Blacks would have gotten… maybe another Twickenham drubbing
222 Go to commentsIt is a good argument to keep the Rebels for one more year but also isnt this just opening the door as well for keeping them beyond 2025. If they can create some sort of financial stability in the next year and if their performances lift as they have this season then how would RA even cull them after that? It might be the most cost effective decision at this stage and perhaps many people are guilty of keeping relationships going because of the cost to decouple but then again when does that ever work out well?
29 Go to commentsDear Ben Smith you are a genius! God please become the next all blacks coach that can take on the mighty BOKS. Your rugby acumen is second to none - imagine your dads sperm bounced as unfortunately as that oval ball did….we would not be blessed with your presence. Just as the all blacks were missing a man you too are missing a chromosome for 80% of your life, so your insights are not only profound but ring true from your own experiences. Just as the TMO interfered with citing an illegal pass I am sure your local authorities interfere with your illegal passes you make on women - How dare they!!! God forbid that rugby be officiated fairly. You are the right man for the job. Next all blacks coach is here ladies and gentlemen Miss Ben Smith (He/She/They/IT)
222 Go to comments