SA Rugby boss: ‘Genius’ Rassie Erasmus has taken us to the next level after ‘high-performance’ overhaul
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus and an inset of SA Rugby president Rian Obeholzer.
Rassie Erasmus has been hailed for transforming SA Rugby’s high-performance structures, while CEO Rian Oberholzer believes that leaving Super Rugby was a blessing.
The SA Rugby CEO says that the United Rugby Championship is a better fit for South Africa, who now travel less than when they tackled the New Zealand, Argentine, Japanese and Australian teams.
“The move north was actually a blessing in disguise for us,” he told the SABC.
“We are now playing in a competition where our travelling is not as severe as it used to be. Our teams are performing well, and I think that was a huge step forward for us.”
Rest was important
South Africa won the 2023 Rugby World Cup after making the move to the URC, but Oberholzer credits the changes that Erasmus made upon his return in 2018 for the success of the Boks and the other national teams.
The current head coach was initially hired as the director of rugby and made several alterations in coaching personnel and aligned all the teams.
General Manager of High Performance Dave Wessels now oversees the structures after Erasmus took over the head coach reins with the Springboks.
“What was important for us was our reset that we had, and in the way that we approach our teams and specifically the national teams,” Oberholzer continued.
“Then also the genius of our coaching staff under the leadership of Rassie Erasmus has really taken us to the next level.
“Our high-performance reset helped us tremendously with our women’s game and positioned our women in the top eight in South Africa.
“Our under-20s won the World Championship, our sevens won this weekend again, so on the field, it’s going extremely well, and I think we’ve got that right.”
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Winning off the field too
SA Rugby has enjoyed success off the field too, with reports earlier this year stating that sponsorship earnings would exceed broadcast revenue for the first time in the professional era.
“So what we have to concentrate on is our off-field performance as well as the way that we look at ourselves as an organisation,” the CEO added.
“Are we still fit for form? Are we moving in the right direction to ensure these successes on the field continue well past this year and next year?”
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Wessels echoed Oberholzer’s sentiments in an exclusive interview with Planet Rugby.
“So I’ve been very lucky to work under him, where we can copy a lot of the things that are working in his environment and try to apply them to the other teams,” he said.
“And of course he and Charles Wessels (Springboks team manager) set up great systems, things like the EPD system and those sorts of stuff which I inherited.
“So, a lot of the success that the other national teams are having at the moment is due to a lot of the great work that they did, when he was doing this role and covering the teams that I’m working with.”
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