RASSIE ERASMUS HAS a problem with how the world views him these days.
“People think they know me, but they don’t,” he writes in his book ‘Rassie,’ which was published this year.
Erasmus claims that those who see him as arrogant, troubled, angry, and unrepentant are wide of the mark. He says he’s a quiet, uncomplicated person who still gets nervous before press conferences. He doesn’t want the limelight.
As with most things, the truth possibly lies somewhere in the middle. Erasmus has been far from faultless in creating the perception many people have of him. Some of those people are Irish and this week’s news that Erasmus won’t be joining the IRFU after the World Cup was met with mocking delight by quite a few supporters.
Erasmus’ exit from Munster in 2017 left a bad taste in the mouth. He said he felt “super shit” about leaving after making such a strong start with the province. Some people felt that Erasmus had misled players and supporters by insisting he was staying when he had already been set to return to South Africa.
Up until that point, Erasmus had won the hearts and minds of everyone in Munster. The players were enraptured by his charisma. The supporters loved how he bought into the place and lifted the fortunes of their team. The South African also handled the incredibly difficult circumstances of Anthony Foley’s death with a steady hand. Erasmus was impressive in those dark days.
We are all pictures of contrasts, but it seems to be extreme with Erasmus. His infamous video about referee Nic Berry’s performance during the Lions tour stepped across the line and brought him severe punishment in the end, but it came from a place of wanting to defend and protect his Springboks players.
Erasmus is a tough, uncompromising character. He wasn’t the biggest back row when he played, but he was hard. He also has a phobia of fruit and says he’s squeamish about blood.
In his playing days, he was deeply ambitious and good enough to win 36 caps for the Springboks. But he was also a bit of a loose cannon, sometimes even going on mad sessions the night before games. Erasmus is honest enough to know that he was not a good team-mate at times and that he was hard work for some coaches.
And at exactly the same time, he was deeply into rugby analysis while he was playing, even buying his own expensive computer to break games down. That was a clear sign that he had a future in coaching and he has been extremely successful in this career too.
He won the Currie Cup in his first job with the Cheetahs and has made a positive impact everywhere he’s been since, Western Province, the Stormers, Munster, and then the Springboks.
His ability to turn the Boks from a joke of a team whose own supporters had begun to dislike them into World Cup winners in the space of 18 months speaks volumes of his rugby intellect and the power of his personality. He claims to be a shy man, but anyone who has met Erasmus in person will surely have noticed the aura around him. He genuinely united the entire nation of South Africa behind his rugby team.
The journey since 2019 has been a little less steady. While more success followed in the Lions series in 2021, that was a nasty, ill-spirited affair during which Erasmus lost credibility and respect in the eyes of many people in the game.
Indeed, it’s understood that even some coaching figures within South Africa have become frustrated with his increasingly controversial public persona. He doesn’t seem to be universally popular in his homeland now, even if he is still revered by the majority for winning the World Cup.
There’s no doubt that Erasmus is a seriously smart rugby coach. He is innovative and creative. From disco lights to send messages to his players on the pitch to 6/2 and 7/1 benches, he is constantly looking for ways to make his teams more effective.
He is also smart enough to have understood the importance of having someone like Jacques Nienaber alongside him. The Springboks’ head coach is a technical mastermind with strong opinions of his own.
They have been coaching together pretty much continuously since 2005 but they will break up as a combination for the first time after this World Cup when Nienaber joins Leo Cullen in Leinster.
Perhaps Erasmus and Nienaber have another plan brewing and will be back together before we know it.
Or maybe this good thing has come to its natural end. It will be fascinating to see how Erasmus manages on his own.
Even though he has become a pantomime villain in the rugby world, the Boks boss is no joke. He will look to prove it again today by beating Ireland and then next month by retaining the World Cup.
