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Rassie Erasmus explains why Clive Woodward 'annoys him' and how he 'admires' Eddie Jones

(Photo By Ashley Vlotman/Sportsfile via Getty Images and by David Rogers - RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

Springboks Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus has come to the aid of embattled head coach Eddie Jones and says that ‘no one’ knows how teams will fare at the World Cup in 2023.

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Writing a column in the Daily Mail UK, Erasmus said that the latest Six Nations, in which Wales finished 5th and England finished 3rd, would have no bearing on the World Cup in 18 months time.

“You can’t look at the latest performances in the Six Nations to determine how teams will perform at the World Cup,” he wrote, adding that is obvious France are the favourites.

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“Everybody can see that France are red hot. Everybody knows France are the favourites. Everybody can see Antoine Dupont is a bull terrier. I can’t wait to see him against Faf de Klerk.”

Erasmus highlighted his own experience when taking over the Springboks in 2018, when the side lost to Australia and Argentina whilst ‘trying new things’ as part of the planning and building phase.

“Something might look awful right now but it could be part of the planning. Teething problems. There are different mechanics to every organisation so you don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes,” he wrote.

“That’s why it annoys me when Sir Clive Woodward tells us how to do things in South Africa because he is not privy to what we are really doing.”

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Erasmus then went to bat for England head coach Eddie Jones who he said he ‘admires in a weird way’ and continued to ask questions of Clive Woodward.

“England are getting a lot of criticism but they will be strong at the World Cup. Don’t tell me Eddie has suddenly become a bad coach. He is a good rugby man who texted me when I was in trouble with World Rugby,” he wrote.

“Clive says Eddie should have a rugby expert to report to? Clive knows English rugby better than me.

“Maybe a buffer between Eddie and the board and the fans could be a good thing that would allow him to focus on the coaching. Or maybe he enjoys that stuff.

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“If you can deal with the board, the crowd, Clive Woodward, the media, then that’s 60 per cent of the work done.

“When I was coach, I didn’t want to speak to the CEO and board members. I wanted to speak to a rugby person.”

Erasmus also penned his thoughts on South African players playing in the English Premiership, which he said was a bonus for South Africa who were free financially to develop the next player coming through while the ex-pat players blocked the pathway of local English players.

“There are six or seven South African players taking the places of young English players at Premiership clubs. For us, it’s wonderful,” he explained.

“Is it good for England that Faf de Klerk is starting ahead of Raffi Quirke at Sale? No. Is it good for South Africa? Yes, it works for us.”

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Oh no, not him again? 3 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 3 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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