Ever since taking over at the helm of the Springboks from 2018, Rassie Erasmus has established himself as one of the great innovators and tacticians in the world game.
Although some of his ways of doing things have not always been met with universal approval, there can be no denying what he has achieved at the Springboks already places him in the conversation as the greatest South African coach of all time.
It was not that long ago that SA Rugby confirmed that Erasmus would remain as the Springbok head coach through to the 2027 World Cup, and some might have thought that this could be his last showpiece event with the team considering he would then have been in the ‘hot seat’ for nearly a decade.
However, according to a weekend newspaper report, Rassie has in fact expressed his desire to remain Springbok head coach until the 2031 World Cup in what would be a massive boost.
It now remains to be seen if SA Rugby can tie down the services of the maverick coach in the midst of understandable interest from other overseas teams.
Rassie has no intent of slowing down at the Springboks
Just this past weekend, Erasmus experimented with a new box of tricks that included an open-play lineout formation in a move borrowed from Paul Roos, while the Springboks also purposefully botched the kick off to secure a scrum straight away.
Particularly the move that saw Manie Libbok kick the ball forward into the hands of André Esterhuizen from the kick off saw some criticism levelled at the Springboks and Erasmus, but he has insisted that innovation will remain the name of the game while he’s in charge.
“I don’t know who the people are who decide what is against the spirit of the game and who owns the right to that,” Erasmus commented this week.
“It’s a bit frustrating, but we must do it for us, for our people, for South Africa and the way we want to play.
“Maybe they want us to be the dumb, boring side that just bullies all day, but I don’t think our people want that back.”
Where would you rate Erasmus among the greatest coaches?
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