Rassie ready for pressure?

Winning, transformation, building a squad, will all take its toll on coach

THERE was an interesting moment when Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus was quizzed about his goals heading towards next year’s World Cup in his first press conference in Durban ahead of the Argentina clash on Saturday.

The coach spoke of balancing winning and growing the team, but then brought up his unprecedented six year contract that is intended to take him to the following World Cup, in France, in 2023.

The coach handled the question well enough, and professed his love for the job as both head coach and director of rugby, but also gave insight into the kind of pressure that has come to bear on his shoulders.

South Africa’s rugby has been in a bit of a spiral since the days of Heyneke Meyer and Allister Coetzee.

For Coetzee, Meyer’s construction gave the incoming coach a very flimsy foundation to build upon, but in saying that, Coetzee did not do himself many favours in his time at the helm.

Now, Erasmus has come in and done so with a lot of fanfare and good feeling. He has made smart choices in selection and made Siya Kolisi his captain.

However, the true test awaits as the Rugby Championship looms. It is clear that New Zealand will be a massive acid test for Erasmus’ rebuilding Boks, but one should not count out a reemerging Australia, nor a fired up Argentina side.

It also needs to be remembered that Coetzee had two purple patches in his tenure, both during the June series’ over the two years. He managed a tight win against a good Irish side first off, and then smashed the French the following year in a whitewash.

There was, like it is at the moment, a lot of optimism following the two June series’ for Coetzee, but poor results in the Rugby Championships, as well as surprising and frankly unwarranted losses in the November tours quickly soured the sentiment.

Erasmus needs to be wary of the challenge that awaits him in the next four or so month.

The expectation on the highly regarded coach is extremely high and after a few losses, or bad decisions, Erasmus suddenly could become public enemy No 1.

What is even more difficult for Erasmus is he is balancing more than just winning.

As head coach, and director of rugby, he has admitted there is no divorcing that roleand thus winning for him is just as important as his other mandates, such as transformation, rebuilding the Bok brand, and strengthening rugby in the country in general.

Erasmus has said though, at the start of this campaign, with two games against Argentina, that it has the feel of a mini-series.

The coach explained that, although Argentina can be viewed as the weaker of the four teams in the Championship, he is still greatly respectful of them, and that is part of the reason he wants to do some tinkering in the opening games.

“In our team selection for the two Argentina games we are going to try a few things, but it is not because we don’t respect them, it is actually because we respect them so much,” Erasmus explained.

“So we know that if players can shine against the Pumas, then you can count on them for the World Cup.”