Coaching where his heart is
Rassie Erasmus: Green and Gold through and through TARGETS ARE TO MAKE BOKS WORLD FORCE AGAIN AND TO EMBRACE TRANSFORMATION
For Rassie Erasmus, the picture is much bigger than only being the Springbok coach. He feels he has a responsibility towards the South African rugby public. And so it should be.
He was born as Johan in Despatch, just outside Port Elizabeth, the same small town where former Bok centre Danie Gerber holds legendary status.
Erasmus made his mark as a player under former Springbok coaches Carel du Plessis and Nick Mallett. He played 36 Test matches between 1997 and 2001, going on to captain the Green and Gold in one Test.
The 45-year-old spoke this week in Port Elizabeth about the unforgiving nature of Bok fans, which he totally understands.
The former Free State Cheetahs’ Currie Cup-winning coach was the villain after his Boks lost 23-18 to Australia away three weeks ago, but he became a national hero a week later after his side overcame the mighty All Blacks 36-34 in Wellington.
Springbok supporters’ newfound faith in the team caused a huge chain reaction, with all 46 000 tickets for today’s Test against the Wallabies at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium sold out, as well as the 52 000 tickets that were on offer for the Loftus return Test match against the Kiwis next week.
“It was great to hear that the stadium had sold out and we always say in meetings that when we lose the public and the media get negative,” Erasmus said.
“And we have to see that as a helluva positive. You get countries where you don’t get that interest from the media or the public and then you don’t get disappointed.”
It’s exactly this kind of interest that gives him hope. “That’s when you have a problem – when people are not disappointed anymore when you are not doing well – because people care.
“And now we’ve seen after one result the stadiums are selling out and we are privileged to play in a country where people get upset when you lose and they don’t forget about it.
“But when you win again, they do come back to the stadium and it’s great to see. But it’s also a helluva responsibility to perform and repay them for their support and loyalty.”
As coach, Erasmus made his mark with the Cheetahs in 2005, winning the Currie Cup title in his first campaign after retiring a season earlier.
He repeated the feat the following season after his side shared the title with the Blue Bulls, before moving on to Western Province and the Stormers from 2007 to 2011. In between, he was a Bok advisor in 2007 and a technical analyst in 2011, before leaving Cape Town to coach Munster in Ireland from 2016 until last year.
At the end of last year, he was lured back to South Africa to become director of rugby for SA Rugby before accepting the head coach position early this year, taking over from Allister Coetzee. Born just down the road, Port Elizabeth still holds a special place in his heart even though he left the Eastern Cape after high school to join the University of the Free State, where his professional rugby career started in earnest.
He turned out in 112 matches for Free State between 1994 and 2003; seven matches for the Golden Lions between 1998 and 2000; made 46 appearances for the Cats; and played four games for the Stormers in 2003.
But coaching is where his heart is now and he has said on a few occasions that he will gladly walk away from the job if the Boks do not deliver results.
Erasmus has always targeted three areas – to make the Boks a world force again, to embrace the transformation challenges and to put specific targets in place for next year’s World Cup tournament in Japan.
He doesn’t see the Wallabies simply rolling over in the Friendly City today, but said his team needs to show they can build on the All Blacks win.
“That’s obviously the plan to try and win. The whole week has been great. It has been a busy week, but a positive, busy week,” he said.
“When a week is so full of activities, sometimes it can be a bit negative in terms of preparation but the vibe in the city, and should I say the area, has been great.”
The Springboks will also commemorate this week the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth in 1918.
“It’s such nice things we’ve been involved with. There’s nothing that can distract us from our preparation and we had a good run in Port Elizabeth so hopefully we can do the same again,” he said.
“But we are playing a team that gave us shots the last time we played and they will be really confident that they can beat us, so we have to get the result. Port Elizabeth won’t get it for us.”
It’s also a helluva responsibility to perform.