Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Different animal Rassie makes Boks’ three-peat dream realistic
THE confirmation of the Springbok coaching staff for the next four years has me convinced that a three-peat of world titles is eminently possible under an older, wiser and more mature Rassie Erasmus.
In 2019, the Boks went to Japan hopeful of winning the Webb Ellis Cup, but were more confident of winning it in 2023.
They did just that in France by holding their nerve in the most competitive World Cup to date to go backto-back, and the dream is to make it three in a row in 2027.
The beautiful thing for South African fans is that the Bok squad that goes to Australia in three-and-a-half years will be better equipped and coached than the last two vintages.
The common denominator at the Springboks since 2018, and going through to 2027, is the enigmatic Erasmus, the deep-thinking flank for Nick Mallett’s Tri-Nations-winning side in 1998, who won the Currie Cup as coach of the Cheetahs in the year after he retired as a player.
As a young coach, he was pushing boundaries with his disco lights on top of the Free State Stadium (he reprised this novel way of communicating at the last World Cup) and in charge of the Springboks, he has incensed the world rugby authorities by the same measure and he has had rivals marvelling at his shrewd tactics.
During the series against the British and Irish Lions, a video found its way onto social media depicting Erasmus vilifying the performance of referee Nic Berry in the first Test. He was banned for 12 months for his efforts.
At the end of the 2022 season, he further involved the ire of World
Rugby when he tweeted clips of refereeing errors in the Boks’ defeats to Ireland and France, resulting in a twomatch ban.
The list of Erasmus’ social media antics goes on, and includes clips of him dancing with his bulldog and enjoying his suspension in Mauritius with suitable refreshments.
But the penny dropped with him somewhere along the line – possibly when the highly respected former referee
Nigel Owens told him his fortune – that revving the officials was doing more harm than good.
Before the last World Cup, the penitent Erasmus courted Owens to join the Bok staff in France.
The Welshman declined but the Boks in any case made a 180-degree turnaround in their behaviour.
They went from being the team referees hated to one of the least penalised teams at the World Cup. Their
impeccable behaviour – on the field by the players and off the field by Erasmus – went a long way to them winning the Cup.
The 51-year-old Erasmus of 2024 is a different animal to the petulant coach who took over from Allister Coetzee in 2018.
The presence of the freshly retired referee Jaco Peyper on Erasmus’ latest staff confirms the head coach understands the importance of staying on the right side of the law.
The choice of Jerry Flannery as defence coach makes a whole lot of sense because the Irishman is a disciple of the man he is replacing, Jacques Nienaber.
When Flannery was first making his way in coaching at Munster after having retired as a player, the men in charge were Erasmus and Nienaber, and Flannery learned about coaching defence from them.
But while defence is critical, it is attack that could win the Boks a third consecutive World Cup.
The Boks have boasted some wonderful attacking talent for some time, but the backline’s growth path since the 2019 World Cup was seriously impeded by the Covid-19 lockdown.
They did not play a game for almost two years, and when they did – the series against the Lions – they had no choice but to revert to what had worked for them in 2019.
The signs of their potent potential were evident when the Boks got to France last year. Now, at the start of a four-year cycle, there is a wonderful opportunity to turn the Bok backline into a try-scoring machine.
To that end, the appointment of Kiwi Tony Brown is a masterstroke.
Brown was a clever playmaker as a flyhalf of the All Blacks and the Highlanders, and as coach of the Dunedin-based team, he had them playing thrilling rugby.
Brown will get the best out of the likes of Cheslin Kolbe, Manie Libbok, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Canan Moodie – and that is a juicy prospect.
Meanwhile, Rugby Australia confirmed yesterday that the Wallabies’ two Rugby Championship Tests against the Boks will take place in Brisbane and Perth on August 10 and 17 respectively.