Rassie Erasmus identifies the ‘once-in-a-lifetime kind of player’ the Springboks can’t replace
Springboks winger Cheslin Kolbe and an insert of head coach Rassie Erasmus.
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus believes that South Africa has the player resources and structures in place to remain among the top teams in world rugby.
After winning back-to-back Rugby World Cups, Erasmus has set his sights on an unprecedented three-peat but is well aware that the squad needs to bring through the next generation of players.
The Bok boss is confident that South Africa can produce the world-class players to eventually take over from the current crop of World Cup winners, but says that Cheslin Kolbe is the one star that they will struggle to replace.
The next generation of Springboks
South Africa had a vastly experienced squad at the 2023 Rugby World Cup and many of those players will either not make the next tournament in Australia, as they are phased out of the team, or will need to be replaced before then.
Erasmus has already started to make changes with prop Trevor Nyakane earning just one cap this year while several new players have been introduced into the system. Faf de Klerk has also been a mainstay in the Springboks squad since 2018 and while he did start the Tests against Ireland this year, he has not been selected for the Autumn Nations Series despite being fit, with Jaden Hendrikse picked instead.
In 2013, Erasmus along with the likes of Jacques Nienaber and other coaches at SA Rugby set up the Elite Player Development programme to help develop the talent in South Africa from a younger age and the Bok boss says that if they look after the programme, it will develop the next generation of stars.
“The thing about our country is that most of the schools play rugby and we have these Craven Weeks and Elite Player Development Pathways which me and a few other SA Rugby coaches started, that’s still running,” Erasmus told The BBC Rugby Union Weekly.
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“Guys like Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Jaden Hendrikse are coming through the pipelines so the next U20s team and South Africa A team – when we play again – we are very much aligned and those schools won’t stop playing rugby.
“We do the basic skills and testing batteries for those guys, we give them training programs and help them move schools, help them with nutrition and give them food. As long we work hard to make sure that we monitor those players, I’m sure that the players will keep on coming through.”
Cannot replace Cheslin Kolbe
Looking more medium term, Erasmus was asked if the Boks will be able to replace the ageing stars as the likes of Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, Damian de Allende and others will be in their late 30s by the time World Cup 2027 comes around.
Erasmus feels they can but with one exception, Kolbe, who he believes is the kind of player that only comes around every now and then.
“Like Sacha, I don’t know if he will have the calm head that Handre Pollard has or if he will have the skills under pressure like Manie Libbok but certainly at this stage is showing that he has everything that the other guys have,” he explained.
“Jaden is actually picked ahead of Faf de Klerk because Faf is ready now. There are a couple of guys now, Elrigh Louw and Jasper Wiese will be 30 at the next World Cup, there are locks coming through at the Bulls who will be really, really good we just haven’t had a chance to give them a run.
“But I think Cheslin is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of player. You very seldom get that kind of player with agility, power and savviness. He only comes around every now and then.”
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Learning from Ireland
Erasmus added that he learnt a lot about player development in Ireland, describing the Irish Rugby system as ‘precision farming’ and was eager to return to South Africa to implement changes as he felt that they had created the “perfect situation for mediocracy.”
“In South Africa, we have 1,000 professional rugby players and if you didn’t make it here, you just go to the next one. So, we were actually creating a perfect situation for mediocracy,” he said.
“When I saw that in Ireland 160 players and they are number one or two in the world, we are doing something wrong in South Africa and I just wanted to get back there and do it with the players there. We had all these other things that pulled us apart provincialism, politics and all these other things and I thought if we can cut that out and be really serious about it by also doing precision farming but with more players.”
