Rassie Top of the Pops among Springboks coaches

Rassie Erasmus, after Saturday’s Nations Championship Test against Scotland, will hold every Springboks coaching record.

Erasmus will move past Jake White’s 54 Tests to become the most capped Springboks coach in history.

Rassie Erasmus

Erasmus has overseen 93 Tests since his appointment as SA Rugby’s National Director of Rugby. He combined the roles of Director of Rugby and Head Coach in 2018 and 2019. His assistant coach of 2018 and 2019, Jacques Nienaber, took charge of the Boks from 2020 to 2023. Erasmus remained actively involved with the squad as Director of Rugby.

Erasmus was also the Technical Consultant for the Springboks at the 2011 World Cup, with Peter de Villiers the head coach.

Erasmus’s Springboks coaching involvement is closing in on 100 Tests when adding the 5 x 2011 World Cup matches, four of which were won by the Boks. They lost the quarter-final 11-9 to the Wallabies in Wellington.

Erasmus, as a player, won 36 Test caps before a foot injury cut short his playing career.

He was part of the Springboks team that won 17 Tests in succession under Nick Mallett and he won a bronze medal at the 1999 World Cup.

Erasmus has worn a Springboks blazer at four World Cup tournaments and attended each of them in a different guise. He was a player in 1999 in England, the Technical Consultant in 2011 in New Zealand, the Head Coach in 2019 in Japan and the Director of Rugby in France in 2023.

SA Rugby president Mark Alexander described Erasmus as having done far more than build a winning Springbok team. He believes the coach has transformed how South Africans experience rugby, using the national team to unite the country across race, language, age and gender while turning diversity into one of the Boks’ greatest strengths. Alexander says Erasmus’ legacy extends beyond World Cup triumphs and Test victories, describing it as one of unity, hope and national pride – a contribution recognised by the awarding of the Order of Ikhamanga in Gold.

Erasmus’ impact has also been recognised in academia.

In 2023, the North-West University approved the awarding of an honorary doctorate in Coaching Science, recognising not only his tactical innovation and leadership in guiding the Springboks to Rugby World Cup titles in 2019 and 2023, but also his commitment to transformation, diversity and social responsibility. The university praised Erasmus as both an outstanding rugby strategist and a nation builder whose emphasis on inclusion, teamwork and leadership has extended well beyond the playing field. He formally accepted the honour in March 2024.

The Springboks beat England 45-21 in the opening round of the Nations Championship at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. They play Scotland in Pretoria on Saturday and Wales in Durban the following Saturday.