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'S*** it looks pretty accurate to me' - Rassie reignites Woodward feud

Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus.

South Africa’s Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus has rekindled his rivalry with 2003 World Cup-winning England coach Clive Woodward on Twitter.

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The verbal public feud between the two renowned coaches goes back to 2021 where England coach Woodward branded Erasmus ‘comical’ in his column for the Daily Mail after the Boks lost the first Test to the British and Irish Lions.

The Englishman also said rugby will be dead in five years if teams copy the Springboks’ style.

Erasmus did not hold back in 2021 when responding to Woodward’s criticism.

The 2019 World Cup-winning coach has thrown the occasional barb at Woodward on Twitter, often with just a smidgen of sarcasm involved.

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However, this time Erasmus’ latest dig simply fell into his lap, as he quotes a segment from current England coach Eddie Jones’ latest book, Leadership.

In the book, Jones mentioned Woodward, although in a slightly more diplomatic fashion.

“It’s more dangerous when you become successful as a leader,” the Australian wrote.

“You can become fearful of losing your status in the coaching hierarchy. The temptation for some is to read what is being written or said about them. That path is a dead end. Imagine if I started reading Sir Clive Woodward in the Daily Mail, analysing what I should do next. Some people listen to the loudest dog in the yard. But you’re going to go even further off track then.

“They can make assumptions about you and your players. But those judgements are based on pure guesswork from an outsider. You should not pay close attention to them when deciding the course you need to follow.”

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This was pure gold for the South African, who shared a photo of the segment in the book on Twitter alongside this caption: “Not sure if this is fake news.

“Apparently it’s in Eddie Jones’s book!! S**t it looks pretty accurate to me!!”

Erasmus even quoted one of his previous Tweets directed at Woodward just to lay it on with a trowel.

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GrahamVF 2 hours ago
Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

"has SA actually EVER helped to develop another union to maturity like NZ has with Japan," yes - Argentina. You obviously don't know the history of Argentinian rugby. SA were touring there on long development tours in the 1950's

We continued the Junior Bok tours to the Argentine through to the early 70's

My coach at Grey High was Giepie Wentzel who toured Argentine as a fly half. He told me about how every Argentinian rugby club has pictures of Van Heerden and Danie Craven on prominent display. Yes we have developed a nation far more than NZ has done for Japan. And BTW Sa players were playing and coaching in Japan long before the Kiwis arrived. Fourie du Preez and many others were playing there 15 years ago.


"Isaac Van Heerden's reputation as an innovative coach had spread to Argentina, and he was invited to Buenos Aires to help the Pumas prepare for their first visit to South Africa in 1965.[1][2] Despite Argentina faring badly in this tour,[2] it was the start of a long and happy relationship between Van Heerden and the Pumas. Izak van Heerden took leave from his teaching post in Durban, relocated to Argentina, learnt fluent Spanish, and would revolutionise Argentine play in the late 1960s, laying the way open for great players such as Hugo Porta.[1][2] Van Heerden virtually invented the "tight loose" form of play, an area in which the Argentines would come to excel, and which would become a hallmark of their playing style. The Pumas repaid the initial debt, by beating the Junior Springboks at Ellis Park, and emerged as one of the better modern rugby nations, thanks largely to the talents of this Durban schoolmaster.[1]"


After the promise made by Junior Springbok manager JF Louw at the end of a 12-game tour to Argentina in 1959 – ‘I will do everything to ensure we invite you to tour our country’ – there were concerns about the strength of Argentinian rugby. South African Rugby Board president Danie Craven sent coach Izak van Heerden to help the Pumas prepare and they repaid the favour by beating the Junior Springboks at Ellis Park.

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