Ex-Springboks captain likens ‘legacy maker’ Rassie Erasmus to Pep Guardiola and Sir Alex Ferguson and makes bold prediction for his future
Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus alongside Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola
Bob Skinstad has hailed Rassie Erasmus as rugby’s Pep Guardiola and warned he could keep South Africa at the top of the game for another 15 years.
Erasmus is bound for Twickenham this weekend with the number one-ranked nation, one which recently added the Rugby Championship to back-to-back World Cups.
Unlike England counterpart Steve Borthwick, floundering with his muddled defence and confused use of replacements, he brings with him a gold standard reputation for innovation and getting the big calls right.
Bomb Squad
At Murrayfield on Sunday that was only enhanced when he replaced seven of his forwards within five minutes of half-time. A narrow 19-12 lead duly became an emphatic 32-15 win.
Only Eben Etzebeth lasted more than a half. It was revolutionary stuff, two packs getting almost 40 minutes each. Yet because it was Erasmus making the call it did not seem outlandish, it actually made sense.
To understand the influence he has brought to bear, there is no better place to turn than Skinstad, the former Springbok captain, given that for a long time the pair did not see eye to eye.
“Very candidly, and I don’t want to labour the point,” he says. “Rassie and I clashed as players and people because we competed for the same position.”
That is a healthy declaration. It means what follows can be taken as measured and not from the fan-boy school of blind loyalty.
“At the start of his coaching career I couldn’t say I saw a Guardiola,” Skinstad begins. “My goodness I can now. I can absolutely see that this guy could coach this team at this level for the next 15 years.”
Skinstad has watched his one-time arch-rival for the jersey not only win with South Africa but do so with a breadth of coaching ideas which elevates him far above the ordinary into the sphere inhabited by Guardiola – not withstanding his current challenges at Manchester City.
“He’s proven to be more innovative than even the youngest players who are joining his team,” says Skinstad, referring to his deployment of ‘Bomb Squad’ replacements, calling scrums off a mark, use of ‘traffic lights’ to communicate with medical staff on the field, and so on.
“He’s a wily old fox but so much more than that. He’s doing different things with off-field stuff, different things with on-field stuff. Driving his team to be innovative. And I’m talking coaching team AND playing team, which for me is the mark of a great coach.”
Skinstad won 42 caps between 1997-2007. There would have been more but for Erasmus playing 36 times in the first four years his younger rival was in the squad.
“Where we buried our proverbial hatchets was when he was a young coach and I was a young commentator,” says the 48-year old. “He was doing stuff that was totally different. It was out of the box and I loved the rugby he was playing.
“But I felt that his voice off the field was too limited and I said it to him. I said to him, ‘I can see you’re using and employing data and analytics better than anyone else but don’t keep talking about stats and analytics because people will pigeon-hole you’.
“He was amazing. He took it on board. We’ve had a great, healthy relationship since.”
Erasmus’ job has been made far harder than any other head coach role in the game by having to chase excellence at a time of such social, racial and multi-cultural transformation in his country.
“Five years ago we had one white fly-half and we couldn’t find the next guy,” says Skinstad. “Now we’ve got five black fly-halves and colour doesn’t mean anything. It’s all about the skill level.
“The change has been extraordinary and I’m hugely proud of that. Through that Rassie has been a politician at the same time as being a coach at the same time as being a manager and a spokesman and a manipulator.
“He’s got a bit of cloak and dagger about him but he’s also got the country’s best interests at heart and he’s got an amazingly technically smart rugby brain. I think he’s perfect for what we’ve needed.”
Fergie-like
Erasmus’ drive to take a team to the top of the mountain but then not be content to make one visit, to want to set up home at the summit, brings to mind the dynasty-building of Sir Alex Ferguson in his Manchester United days.
“Absolutely right, that’s a lovely way of putting it,” says Skinstad. “I think Rassie is a modern day rugby version of that kind of legacy maker.”
All of which spells concern for Borthwick’s England, who have lost six of their last eight and now not beaten one of the southern hemisphere’s three traditional superpowers in seven attempts.
Skinstad is not convinced. England should have won the last meeting of the countries in last year’s World Cup semi-final, he insists. “They would have been worthy victors,” he adds.
“I absolutely think England can trouble the Boks at Twickenham. South Africa may be battle hardened, but I think they’ll be battle weary as well.
“They also have a short week and England are hurting. All the advantages are with England. It’s a mouth-watering prospect.”
