Seven years of Springbok players describing the same coach in the same way.
No head coach in world rugby has been written about more and understood less. Most of it covers what Rassie Erasmus does with a bench. Almost none of it covers why his players talk about him the way they do.
Rassie Erasmus, the Springbok head coach since 2018, earns respect from his players mainly by dealing with them as individuals rather than as a squad. Players describe a coach who protects them off the field, adjusts to each personality rather than imposing one standard, stays approachable despite being demanding, and selects on form regardless of age or reputation.
The clearest account came from Trevor Nyakane this month.
Rassie Erasmus takes the hit for you
The Sharks loosehead prop, speaking on his own podcast For The Love Of Rugby: South Africa, said Erasmus shielded him through a personal crisis unrelated to rugby. He didn’t say what it was.
He protected me in a moment of vulnerability. In a moment where nobody cared, in a moment where things were going so bad, he protected me and he made me look like the hero that I am to all the South African young lighties that are watching rugby. Meanwhile, he had to fight not his own demons, but my ones too.
Trevor Nyakane
“I will go to war for Rassie. He’s done things for me outside of rugby that people don’t even know.”
That’s the part that doesn’t show up in tactical analysis, and it’s the part players keep coming back to.
The South Africa head coach manages people, not a squad
Nyakane’s argument is that a Springbok squad isn’t a natural unit, and that this is the hardest part of the South Africa head coach job. It’s assembled from four franchises that spend ten months a year trying to beat each other. Loyalty there has to be built.
His example was small: one player wants a beer after the whistle, another wants his ice bath and to be left alone. Forbid the first or force the second and you’ve lost him.
“I need to handle it in a way where when they come back on Monday, they’re both happy.”
Intense, but approachable
Earlier this year, Nyakane drew a contrast with other coaches he’s had. There are some, he said, you see walking towards you and you turn and go the other way.
Erasmus isn’t one of them. “As intense as coach Ras can be, he can actually be very fun as well. He can be a calming person.”
Steven Kitshoff, the former Stormers and Springbok loosehead who retired last year, described the flip side. A coach who never simply watches a match. “It would be a deep dive for him. I think he is very analytical.”
Rassie Erasmus expects players to have an opinion
Nyakane said Erasmus will ask players what they made of a game he has already taken apart himself.
“So it’s always good to have something to say, even just to impress.”
Small thing, but it treats players as people with rugby brains rather than units to be positioned. That tends to be remembered.
Selection on form, not age or CV
Deon Fourie is the current example. The Stormers loose forward and hooker turns 40 in September and hadn’t played a Test since the 2023 Rugby World Cup final. He scored a try, made 14 tackles and won two turnovers against the All Blacks in Cape Town this month, and Erasmus put him straight back into the squad.
Fourie was already the oldest Springbok debutant in history when he was capped in 2022. Selecting him again isn’t sentiment. He was the best openside on the field that night.
Selling the plan before it’s proven
Kitshoff said the Bomb Squad, the six-two bench split Erasmus introduced in 2019, was bought into almost immediately by the whole squad. “At this stage, you can’t win these big Test matches with a 15-man performance.”
A tactic that unusual only works if the players believe in it before the results arrive. Getting that belief is the same skill as everything above it, and it is the one part of coaching that cannot be copied off a laptop.
The proof arrives on Saturday. South Africa meet New Zealand at Ellis Park in the first Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, with the tourists having won all three warm-up matches by a combined 142-40.
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Rassie Erasmus: frequently asked questions
What did Trevor Nyakane say about Rassie Erasmus?
He said he would go to war and die for Erasmus, because the Springbok head coach protected him during a personal crisis unrelated to rugby. Nyakane did not say what happened.
Why do Springbok players respect Rassie Erasmus?
Players consistently describe four things: he protects them off the field, he manages each personality individually rather than imposing one standard, he stays approachable despite being demanding, and he selects on current form rather than age or reputation.
Is Rassie Erasmus still the Springbok head coach?
Yes. He has held the role since 2018, apart from the period when Jacques Nienaber was head coach and Erasmus was director of rugby. He returned to the head coach role in 2024.
What has Rassie Erasmus won as Springbok coach?
The 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cups, the 2021 series against the British and Irish Lions, and the Rugby Championship in 2024 and 2025.
Is Rassie Erasmus tough to play for?
Nyakane describes him as intense but also fun and, at times, calming. His point was that there are coaches you avoid in a corridor, and Erasmus is not one of them.
Where did Nyakane say this?
On For The Love Of Rugby: South Africa, the podcast he hosts with Steven Kitshoff.
