Springboks: Rassie Erasmus 'considered' coaching another Test team: Planet Rugby

Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus admits he considered coaching another country but decided against it as he would not be able to understand the team’s culture.

Erasmus was awarded an honorary doctorate in coaching science from North West University earlier this year in recognition of the way he rebuilt the entire culture of South African rugby and united a nation in the process.

When the master tactician took the helm of the Springboks in 2018 it was a team at a low point fraught with problems, but Erasmus shifted the team’s focus back to South Africa’s traditional strengths with maximum reward.

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Everything about what drives them

The coach himself puts it down to understanding exactly how South Africans think and operate – something he admits will be difficult to achieve abroad.

“If you don’t know the culture of a team and their pulse, you don’t understand why they play and what their fans are like,” he said. BBC Sports.

“I’ve thought about it and I enjoyed my time at Munster because it was very Bloemfontein-like. But I wouldn’t know what drives another country.”

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Symbol of hope

For the Springboks it is about representing hope and trying to be a positive symbol for the people of South Africa, a story built by Erasmus himself, who loves seeing people from different walks of life working together efficiently.

“That pat on the back for winning the World Cup, that’s nice and you enjoy that, but it’s more the South Africans. When you see the South African people and the gratitude on people’s faces…’ Erasmus explained.

“People talk about hope and that anyone can become a Springbok – that’s nonsense. There have only been 900 Springboks in the history of the game.

“But I think it is the cooperation of South Africans. It doesn’t matter what you are – whether you’re Christian, Muslim, black, English, African, Xhosa, Zulu.

“When you use the best of everyone, that gives me a kick. It gives me a kick when people see what is possible. And the players understand that.

“It brings a lot of pressure, but I would rather lose and continue to solve it and (try to) evolve.”

The Springboks are currently in a training camp in Jersey ahead of their tour against Scotland before taking on England and Wales to round out the year.