Ex-Ireland star: Rassie Erasmus is the best coach I ever had, I always knew he would win the World Cup with Springboks
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus and former Ireland and Munster star Simon Zebo.
Ex-Ireland star Simon Zebo has stated Rassie Erasmus is the best coach he has ever had and predicted that he would lead the Springboks to glory.
The 35-year-old played under the current South Africa head honcho when the two were together at Munster in 2016 and 2017.
It was only a short spell, with Erasmus leaving the Irish province to take up the director of rugby role with the Boks, but he had a lasting impression on Zebo.
‘Old school’ Rassie
“Rassie would be number one for sure, he’s the best coach I’ve ever had. I loved him,” the former Ireland back three player told talkSPORT Ireland.
“We had a bad culture for a year or two at Munster and when Rassie came in that got put to bed very fast.
“I miss that old school just say it how it is, no bs, there are no players second guessing or thinking, ‘does he like me?’ And trying to be little political animals.”
Zebo was joined on the What the Ruck podcast by fellow ex-Ireland and Munster team-mate Dave Kilcoyne, who revealed how Erasmus got everyone into line.
“I remember we played I think it was Cardiff – it could have been Rassie’s first game over – and I looked at the phone in the morning and it said: ‘You’ve been added to the group, Virus’. And then I saw all the names being added. It was like, ‘Jesus, this is mad’,” Kilcoyne said.
“We went in and I remember Rassie when he came in after the loss and he saw people congregating in the corner, giving out, bitching, moaning and blaming.
“He was so emotionally intelligent that he was seeing certain things. This could have happened before a few times and he was looking around as to what happened, so we all got added to this group on the Monday.
“He flogged us on that Monday. It was eight or nine in the morning and he gave a big meeting about the idea of the ‘virus’, which is if you don’t take ownership or accountability, and you’re going to pull another fella down with you, that’s where the deadwood term comes in.
“After that he started getting rid of fellas, and he changed the whole culture.”
Simon Zebo: ‘Rassie Erasmus hates the Irish, he really, really doesn’t like us’
‘Good cop, bad cop’
Erasmus was joined at Munster by Jacques Nienaber and they were described by Kilcoyne as “good cop, bad cop”, and Zebo felt that those two would have led the Irish side to Champions Cup glory.
“He had a huge influence on all of us, not just me, even players who didn’t really like him or get selected by him, they had an unbelievable amount of respect for him,” the ex-wing and full-back said.
“I’ve never seen anybody who is as good a coach, from being a tactician to empowering or instilling belief in players.
“Him and Jacques Nienaber together were an amazing duo.
“With my Munster hat on, I never wanted him to leave, I thought he would take us to the holy grail.”
It was therefore no surprise for Zebo to see how much success Erasmus has had with the Springboks having played a key role in their back-to-back Rugby World Cup successes.
“I knew straight away, if he had the talent pool like South Africa had with their size, there’s no way they wouldn’t win a World Cup with him there,” he added.
“I think my uncle won a few bob as South Africa were in a bad spot when Rassie took over.
“Irrespective of the main team, the generation coming up below, the talent now that they have at their disposal, oh my goodness, I think they’re going to be the new All Blacks where for 20 or 30 years, or maybe longer, no one could touch them.”
