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Former rival explains why Rassie Erasmus is the world's greatest coach
Leicester Tigers boss Michael Cheika believes “you can’t go past” South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus when picking the best coach in the world currently, whose Springboks side he says are looking “harder to stop”.
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Cheika has been Erasmus’ adversary over the past decade with both the Australian national team and the Argentinian, and highlighted the consistency the former Springbok has built with his team as one of the pillars of his success.
Of course, winning back-to-back World Cups is what makes Erasmus stand out in the Australian’s eyes, which is understandable.
Joining Ben Youngs and Dan Cole, two members of his Leicester squad, recently on the For the Love of Rugby podcast, the former Rugby Championship winner explained what he believes makes a successful coach and why he holds Erasmus up in such high regard.
Erasmus has a chance to add to his burgeoning trophy haul this Saturday when his Springboks host Argentina in the final round of The Rugby Championship, knowing just a losing bonus point will bring them the title.
“I’ve always seen coaching, in my eyes, being about the right person, for the right team at the right time. It’s three-dimensional,” Cheika said on the podcast.
“So one coach could do a brilliant job in one place, and then perhaps that same coach, when he goes to another place, might struggle a little bit because what you need to be in that environment is not what your skill set is.
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“You really can’t go past a coach who’s led his country to two World Cups.
“It’s pretty hard to go past that. That’s eight years’ worth of continuity and success. People can say, ‘Oh yeah, he’s got a great playing pool and all that,’ but you’ve still got to make those players play better and stay at that consistent level.
“So Erasmus has been able to acquire such consistency with his team, and he’s building like a bit of a monolith there. They’re even looking harder to stop. Along the way, they’ve created success by winning The Rugby Championship several times. They’ve had a lot of success on November tours when they’ve come up to the north, and then, as well, they’ve been able to have success in two World Cups. You can’t go past that.”
But as someone who has coached in both codes – leading Lebanon at a Rugby League World Cup and serving as an assistant with the Sydney Roosters – Cheika is also full of admiration for some of the legends of the 13-man game.
“I go to the people with longevity,” he said. “If I go to NRL, you’ve got Craig Bellamy from Melbourne Storm, who’s been nearly 20 years there. They would have been finalists, top four, probably 18 or 17 of those. Trent Robinson, Wayne Bennett— those guys who have had long stints and have been able to create success over long periods of time.”
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Watch the highly acclaimed five-part documentary Chasing the Sun 2, chronicling the journey of the Springboks as they strive to successfully defend the Rugby World Cup, free on RugbyPass TV (*unavailable in Africa)
When Razor gets more experience and settles into his rythym, we are going to witness an All black backlash. Back to days where we are beaten regularly by them.
When it comes to coaches then Rassie must be considered the GOAT. I doubt that many will match his RWC record of two wins.
There is a considerable amount of luck to winning a RWC.
In 2019, the two big teams NZ and England met in a semi final. SA got Wales in theirs.
England knocked NZ out who were better than SA having beat them, and England put so much effort into that they were a spent force in the final.
In 2023, Ireland were better than SA but NZ knocked them out and SA needed an enormous slice of luck to beat NZ. That's a fact.
Everything is GOAT this and GOAT that with SA these days. I think a bit of humility may be necessary.