Maybe it is time for South Africa to deploy winning management and coaching strategies and personnel to other sporting codes wishing to do well on the international sporting stage?
The facts are clear:
- In Rugby, South Africa has won the World Cup Title three times since inception in 1987. Victories came in 1995, 2007 and 2019
- In Football (Soccer), South Africa has not won one World Cup since it’s inception in 1930
- In Cricket, South Africa has not one one World Cup (or even played in the final) since it’s inception in 1975.
Jacques Nienaber (47) – defence coach: The right-hand man of Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus, with whom he has walked a long road in rugby, from the Cheetahs right up to the Springboks, via the Stormers and then Munster in Ireland, having first met in the army.
Nienaber made the transition from physiotherapist to defence coach once he joined Western Province and the Stormers for the 2008 Super Rugby season.
“We are friends for a long time, but as we always say, whenever there is a rugby decision that needs to be discussed, sometimes we disagree and we get angry at each other,” Nienaber says about his connection with Erasmus.
“But it’s never personal – it’s always to make the team better. We’ve got a good relationship in terms of that. We are friends on the one side, but also that Rassie is my boss – we can have a drink together, but when we have to make decisions about rugby, we don’t have egos of accepting the route we want to take.”
He took up his Springboks role 18 months ago. South Africa have conceded an average of 11 points per game in 2019, and have the best defensive record at RWC 2019.
Matthew Proudfoot (47) – forwards coach: South African-born Proudfoot is a former tight-head prop who played four tests for Scotland between 1998 and 2003, having qualified through a Scottish grandfather.
He first worked with Erasmus at the Stormers in Cape Town, where he moulded a young pack into one of the most efficient in Super Rugby. They reached the final in 2010 and semi-finals in 2011 and 2012.
A number of the current Bok forwards have come through Proudfoot’s hands – Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Vincent Koch, Eben Etzebeth, captain Siya Kolisi, Duane Vermeulen and Francois Louw.
Proudfoot first made his name as a coach at North-West University’s Pukke team, before getting his big break in 2008 when he was appointed as the forwards coach for Western Province and then Stormers.
He was the right-hand man of former Springbok coach Allister Coetzee at the Stormers, followed Coetzee to the Kobe Steelers in Japan in 2015, and returned with him to become the Springbok forwards coach in 2016.
He is married to South Africa international netball player Vanes-Mari du Toit.
Mzwandile Stick (35) – specialist skills: Having played provincial rugby for Eastern Province mainly as a full-back, Stick made his name in the international arena as a sevens specialist.
The Port Elizabeth born, Newell High School Graduate began playing the Mighty Elephants in 2003, spent 2004 to 2007 with the Sharks and then back to EWastern Province up until 2011.
Mzwandile Wanky Stick captained the Springbok sevens team to their first World Sevens Series title in the 2008-09 season and was famous for kicking a number of crucial drop goals for the Blitzboks.
He started coaching in 2013 with Eastern Province junior teams in Port Elizabeth and was soon promoted to an assistant coach with the Southern Kings in Super Rugby.
In December 2015, he was appointed as the backline coach of the Southern Kings Super Rugby team for the 2016 Super Rugby season, and joined the South Africa national rugby union team in the same capacity in April 2016 as part of Allister Coetzee’s management team and was then moved to the South Africa U20 side as an assistant coach in 2017.
After Erasmus’s appointment as South Africa coach early in 2018, Stick returned to the national team as a specialist skills coach, with a special emphasis on fielding the high ball and off-the-ball skills. He also works closely with the backs.
Felix Jones (29) – attack consultant: Former Ireland full-back Jones made his name in professional rugby at Munster from 2009 onwards, and eventually made his test debut in 2011. He was ruled out of RWC 2011 with an ankle problem, and in 2015 he was forced to retire with a neck injury, aged 28.
Jones then became a technical coach with Munster, graduating to the backs coach position and working with Erasmus as well as the Ireland national team alongside Joe Schmidt.
When backline coach Swys de Bruin left the Springbok set-up earlier this year due to health reasons, Erasmus called on Jones as a consultant for the Rugby World Cup, “knowing that we would probably play Scotland or Ireland or England”.
Erasmus said: “I coached with Felix at Munster for almost two years – I know how good he is. The analysis he does on individual players and defensive structures is really phenomenal.”
Johan ‘Rassie’ Erasmus (46) – Springboks Rugby Coach and Director of Rugby: Rassie Erasmus was born in Despatch (which forms part of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality), educated at the Despatch Hig hSchool and the University of the Free State.
Erasmus started his elite rugby career with the Free State during the 1994 Currie Cup. By the turn of professionalism in rugby union in 1995.
In July 1997, he was called up for national duties with the Springboks ahead of the 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa. With the series already won by the Lions ahead of the third test, Erasmus made his test debut on the 5 July in Johannesburg, which the home side won 35–16. In his next match for the Springboks, on 23 August that same year, Erasmus played the Wallabies, starting at flank, and scoring a try for South Africa in only his second match, which the Boks went on to win 61–22 in Pretoria.
Having firmly established himself as a starting flanker for the Boks, Erasmus joined the Cats ahead of the 1998 Super 12 season, where he continued to ply his trade until 2001.
In 1999, Erasmus was made captain for a single test against Australia during the 1999 Tri Nations Series. He was later named in the 30-man squad for the 1999 Rugby World Cup. He played in all but one game during the World Cup, which saw the Springboks bow out in the semi-final, losing to eventual champions, Australia 27–21, after extra time. In the third-place play-off, South Africa defeated New Zealand 22–18 to take third place.
After a stop start season in 2003, after being brought in by the Stormers for their 2003 Super 12 season, Erasmus retired at the end of that season after a professional career lasting almost ten years.
Erasmus’ coaching career began in 2004, after he became the head coach of his previous club, Free State Cheetahs, for the 2004 Vodacom Cup. In his first stint at coaching, he led his side to Semi-Finals of the Cup, only to lose to the Blue Bulls 23–20. In 2005, he made the step up to Currie Cup, leading the Free State to glory during the 2005 season. It was the Cheetahs first Cup title since 1976.
Following the 2007 Super 14 season, Erasmus left the Cheetahs set up after being appointed technical adviser to the Springboks ahead of the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
Erasmus was also named the new Stormers head coach for the 2008 Super 14 season, where he helped improve the side to narrowly miss out on play-off places in the semi-final – lifting the team from their tenth place in 2007 to fifth in 2008. By mid 2009, Western Province and the Stormers revamped their structure, which saw Erasmus become a Senior professional coach for the region, and Allister Coetzee introduced as head coach for the province and Super Rugby side.
After Heyneke Meyer was named as Peter de Villiers’ replacement in January 2012, Erasmus was appointed General Manager: High Performance teams, in April of that year. Part of his role consisted of acting as an assistant to Meyer when the Springboks were in training camps.
In April 2016, Erasmus joined Irish provincial side Munster as the Director of Rugby on a three-year contract, beginning on 1 July 2016. Following the death of head coach Anthony Foley, Erasmus took on the duties of both Director of Rugby and head coach for the remainder of the season. He led his side to top of the pool 1 in the European Rugby Champions Cup finishing in second seed overall to advance to the Quarter-finals. There they beat Toulouse, 41–16, before losing to Saracens 26–10 in the semi-finals. The 2016–17 Pro12 proved more successful, topping the table at the end of the regular season with 19 victories, and defeating the Ospreys 23–3 in the semi-finals. Despite going into the final favorites, Munster were convincingly beaten by the Scarlets in the final, losing 46–22 at the Aviva Stadium.
On 7 May 2017, Erasmus won the 2016–17 Pro12 Coach of the Season award, an honour that was given to him at Guinness Pro12 Awards dinner in the Guinness Storehouse, Dublin.
Erasmus left Munster in December 2017 to become South Africa’s Director of Rugby, a position that had never been filled at SARU.
Erasmus was named head coach of the national team, alongside his duties as Director of Rugby at SA Rugby, on 1 March 2018.[14]
In his first match in charge, Erasmus gave thirteen players their first test cap, in a one-off match in Washington, D.C. against Wales, who won the test 22–20. A week later, he secured his first win, a 42–39 win over England, during their three-test series. The series title was clinched in the second test, with the Springboks winning 23–12, to secure a series victory.
During the 2018 Rugby Championship, Erasmus led the Springboks to second, the highest they have been since 2014. The 2018 Championship saw South Africa win three games, including a 36–34 victory over New Zealand in Wellington. This was South Africa’s first win in New Zealand since 2009, and South Africa came within moments of reclaiming the Freedom Cup in the final round. But a try by Ardie Savea in the dying moments of the game, meant New Zealand retained the cup, and won the match 32–30 in Pretoria.
The 2018 end-of-year tour for South Africa saw the team face mixed result; losing to England and Wales whilst beating France and Scotland. Following the tour, Erasmus stated that after the 2019 World Cup he would cease as head coach and revert to solely his Director of Rugby role.
The 2019 Rugby Championship saw the Springboks claim their fourth Southern Hemisphere title, their first since the inception of The Rugby Championship and their first since 2009. This came on the back of victories over Australia and Argentina, and a first draw with New Zealand since 1994.
The 2019 Rugby World Cup saw South Africa claim one of their greatest victories by winning the title for a third time despite a loss to New Zealand in the group stages. Victory over England in the final, after grind-out victories over Japan and Wales in the knock-out stages, saw South Africa lift the Webb Ellis Cup in Tokyo.
Erasmus’ Coaching approach: Erasmus feels that factors affecting rugby success are consistency in selection, rhythm and momentum, having few injuries, and luck (as top level games are often very close and can depend on one bounce of a ball or penalty). He plans long-term. He tends to be very open about his opinions, both in his playing group and with the media. If his team wins a game, Erasmus wears the same shirt for the next game.
Alan Straton
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