Rassie Erasmus reveals how the Sharks’ form influences Springbok selection

Head coach Rassie Erasmus believes the fundamentals of Sharks players are more important for Springboks selection than the results of the Durban side.

It has been a horror season for the Sharks who are rooted to the bottom of the United Rugby Championship with just one win from 11 games despite having a high-powered squad that features nine of the 43 players from the recent Springbok alignment camp – all of which are at least a one-time Rugby World Cup winner.

Fundamentals key

John Plumtree insists the ship will turn as the team rebuilds their culture and Erasmus underlined that the Springboks do not influence how the Sharks decide to approach the game tactically, he is just interested in the fundamentals of the player.

“The way they are coached and what they do is what their current coaching staff and structures are trying to do with them,” Erasmus told Sport24. “Some of them [the franchises] are successful, and some are not.

“I’ve been there, as a franchise coach, where I have tried a few things or have taken a specific angle and not been successful. We look at the fundamentals of the players and what they do on the field.

“We don’t look at their tactical play because we can’t have an influence on that. That is their coach’s job. We know their performance when it comes to the fundamentals and, if they can do those fundamentals, then they can pretty much fit into our game plan.

“As a South African supporter, I would love them to do better, but as a Springbok coach, it doesn’t have such a big influence.”

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Not Ngcobo’s fault

The former director of South African Rugby turned his attention to the faltering Blitzboks and refused to lay blame on outgoing head coach Sandile Ngcobo who opted to stand down from the role after poor results on the SVNS series.

“When a South African team is not performing, it is not one person’s fault. It is not the head coach’s fault alone,” he added.

“The sevens series was always in a window where you could borrow from Griquas or the Lions [or other SA unions], but now those teams are all playing while the sevens series is on.

“That is something that we have to overcome, so that there are 23 or 24 signed players, and that is what the new structure must try and sort out.”

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