SA Rugby boss hails the impact of Rassie Erasmus in ‘creating golden era of South African rugby’

SA Rugby’s general manager for high performance rugby, Dave Wessels, has complimented Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus for laying the foundation to success for all South Africa’s other national teams to follow.

Under Erasmus’ guidance, the Springboks have been the dominant force in international rugby in recent years.

Since he took charge of the Boks in 2018, they have won back-to-back Rugby World Cups in Japan (2019) and France (2023), while also clinching a 2-1 series victory over the British & Irish Lions in South Africa in 2021.

They were also crowned Rugby Championship champions in 2024 and 2025.

Erasmus is not just satisfied with his team’s success, and when he took over the Springboks‘ coaching reins as director of rugby in 2018, he also put plenty of effort into running SA Rugby’s Elite Player Development (EPD) structures, which covers the other national teams.

However, SA Rugby announced in March 2024 that ex-Western Force and Melbourne Rebels head coach Wessels was appointed to a new position as their general manager for high-performance rugby.

That meant Erasmus would be solely focused on his Springboks commitments while Wessels would be responsible for South Africa’s other national teams – a job which he revealed he could not turn down when approached about it by Erasmus.

Wessels is no stranger to Erasmus as he started out as a technical analyst at the Stormers in 2008 when the Boks mentor was the Cape Town-based franchise’s director of rugby.

“I’m blessed and was very lucky that he gave me an opportunity many, many years ago,” Wessels told Planet Rugby. “And so, when he called me about this opportunity, many months ago, it was a very difficult thing to say no to, and I’m pleased that I didn’t.

‘Privileged to be part of it all’

“It’s been fantastic and I just feel really privileged to be part of it all.”

Since stepping into his position, Wessels has ultimate responsibility for teams like the Springboks Sevens, Junior Boks (U20s), Springboks Women, Women Sevens and the SA U18s.

During that time, the Junior Boks ended a 13-year wait to be crowned World Rugby U20 Championship champions for 2025, the Blitzboks won the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles and also defended their title on home soil at the Cape Town Sevens recently, while the Springboks Women reached the quarter-finals at the 2025 Rugby World Cup in England – the first time they achieved that feat at the global showpiece.

“It’s been a fun year. The things that Rassie and the work that the Springboks are doing have set such a high bar for everybody at SA Rugby,” said Wessels.

“Combined with that, our commercial team have just done a brilliant job in the last 12 to 18 months as well. So, there’s a real energy in the whole organisation and that that sort of makes my job easier.

“That and everybody who comes to SA Rugby really feels the responsibility to bring their A game and to really give their best.

“And that’s exactly what the staff and the players in our national teams have done. They’ve had a great year and I’m very proud of what the teams and the players and staff have achieved.”

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Wessels had special words of praise for the SA U20, Sevens and senior women’s sides after each of those teams reached great heights in 2025.

“Both the Junior Boks and the Blitzboks, the Sevens, we are so blessed with the amount of talent we have in the country and particularly the amazing job that the schools and the club structures do for us in providing that and developing that talent,” said the 42-year-old.

“So, our job as those two national teams is to really work hard to make sure that we’re identifying the best players and then to provide some really great coaches, in Kevin Foote (SA U20) and Philip Snyman (Blitzboks), to make sure that we can get the best out of them.

“So I’m proud that those two environments are doing a great job of those two things at the moment. And then the Springbok women’s team, under the guidance of Swys de Bruin, are also doing well.

‘I feel almost totally different about that now’

“When I joined SA Rugby, I probably thought of all of the teams that I’m involved with and then sort of women as an extra, you know? And I feel almost totally different about that now. I’m super excited about the growth of women’s sports and the appetite from fans and from commercial partners for women’s sports is growing rapidly.

“And the women are also just such a wonderful group of players to work with. They’re super hungry for knowledge, they work hard, just a fantastic bunch of people.

“We’ve really got big plans for our Springbok women’s team, and I think by the next World Cup we want to see ourselves really trying to be a medal contender.

“So there’s a lot of work to do before that, but I feel if we get it right and with the support of the whole rugby ecosystem, I really think we have a chance to be world champions in women’s rugby as well.”

Wessels singled out Erasmus for special praise and highlighted the winning culture which he has created with the Boks while also crediting him for setting up the blueprint for all South Africa’s national teams’ successes.

“Rassie and his team have really created this golden era of South African rugby. And I think sometimes as fans we don’t quite appreciate how special it is,” he said.

“What’s been amazing with Rassie is that he’s not only been able to do it once, but he’s managed to keep the squad fresh, introduced a lot of new faces, all of whom have come on board and performed.

“So he’s created this ecosystem of performance that just the clarity of responsibilities and expectations is so high, then I think everybody resonates really well with the purpose.

“The Springboks bring joy to the country, to a country that often needs it. And so there’s this real high purpose among the group. That sort of is what we’re trying to replicate then, with the other teams.

“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.

“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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