Rassie gets a pass mark
There have been mixed reactions following coach Rassie Erasmus’ first year in charge of the national team, but the general consensus has been that the Springboks are on their way back – but with one eye sternly on the future. What counts heavily in Erasmus’ favour is that the All Blacks were beaten on home soil for the first time by the Boks in nine years, which in itself was a massive feat. Rudolph Jacobs takes some noteworthy pointers out of his first season in charge.
1 Have the Boks improved in the last two years?
There it has to be a definitive yes. After all, there were no embarrassing 57-0 losses like last year to New Zealand in Albany or the 38-3 drubbing by Ireland in Dublin, but then Erasmus was aided with the removal of the 30-Test cap limitation of overseas players.
In fact, the Boks’ biggest losses this year have been the 32-19 defeat to Argentina in Mendoza and the 25-10 defeat to England in the third Test at Newlands when Erasmus was experimenting. 2 Has there been a lack of continuity in team selection and performances?
With the jury still out on his leadership, Bok skipper Siya Kolisi (below) rightly pointed out that consistency has been a problem area. He says it doesn’t serve any purpose to produce two to three good results but then begin losing a few games again. Good point.