What makes Rassie tick
ONE Step Beyond was a massive breakthrough hit for English ska band Madness in 1979.
It is doubtful that a seven-yearold Rassie Erasmus was bopping to the Nutty Boys — as the band was known — but it could well be his signature song according to ex-players who went to war with him in the Springbok jersey, and who have seen his old traits continue into his career as a coach.
Gary Teichmann captained the flank in most of his 36 Tests and describes him as a player “ahead of his time” when it came to tactics.
Erasmus joined the Springbok side in 1997, a time when Teichmann says the players were still getting to grips with professionalism. “But not Rassie. He was always one step ahead in analysing the opposition. He spent hours each day in the video room with Nick (Mallett),” Teichmann recalls, adding that Erasmus was calm on and off the field, probably because he had done his homework and had left nothing to chance. “On the field he had a very good feel for the game and usually popped up in the right place at the right time.”
Cut to the present day and Erasmus’s real debut in Test rugby, if we discount the excuse for an international that was the second-string letdown between the Boks and Wales in Washington. At Ellis Park we saw a scarcely believable comeback from the Springboks, one akin to the famous fight back against the All Blacks at Kings Park in 1998, when Teichmann’s Boks — with Erasmus on the flank — overturned a 20-point deficit to win in the last minute. The Lazarus-like rising from the dead against England was all the more spectacular for South Africans given the lightand-day contrast with the bewildered, befuddled Boks of the last two years. Under Allister Coetzee, the Boks were lost at sea, a boat grimly struggling along, rudderless and shipping water fast.
Robbie Kempson, another who played with Erasmus, said the vigour with which the Boks hit back was startling. “We had almost forgotten what it was like to see a Springbok side play with spirit and character,” the former
missing out for the fifth time. The North American bid collected 134 votes to the 65 for Morocco. One Congress
loosehead prop said. “What a pleasure to see the guys chucking their bodies at the opposition, such was their passion. But it wasn’t just brawn and force, what also thrilled me was to see how we played in the middle part of the match ... the tactical game in that period played a major part in pinning England back, and that is down to coaching.”
Kempson agrees with Teichmann that as a player, “nothing fazed Rassie” and adds that “his attention to detail was ‘par excellence’.”
“It is encouraging to know that Rassie and his right hand man, Jacques Niebaber, leave absolutely nothing to chance and are always one step ahead,” Kempson. “Nothing goes by the wayside. We are talking about a very intelligent coach. The Boks will not lose a match because of a lack of planning or foresight on the part of the coaching staff.”
Mark Andrews a great Springbok that was as lion-hearted as Teichmann and Kempson, was equally impressed to see the old pride in the jersey back, and then some. “They were playing for something bigger than themselves, not just the jersey,” Andrews enthused. “They were playing for their families, their friends, the man in the street ... their country. I have seen the same thing in our Sevens team – that desire to get up off the floor and run 50m to make another tackle. It is the hallmark of successful teams, it is what the All Blacks are all about, and it is amazing to see this new Bok team doing it already.”
Teichmann, right up there as one of this country’s best ever captains, agrees wholeheartedly.
“Watching that level of intensity from our guys told me two things: the players have bought in to the coach’s vision and believe in what they are doing, and with that comes a depth of character that cannot be bought.”
member voted for “neither bid”. The 2026 finals will be the first expanded tournament featuring 48 teams, up from the current 32-team event which begins in Russia today – Reuters.