Latest news with #RassieErasmus
The Citizen
12 hours ago
- Sport
- The Citizen
Springbok coaches zero in on players after trimming squad for Rugby Champs
'It was a bit tough to get that right with the big squad,' Rassie Erasmus said. Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus said the team's training camp has started well, as they've been able to meet their goal of providing more one-on-one attention to players ahead of the Rugby Championship. Erasmus told the media they had cut the squad size and extended the training camp from one week to two, after finding that the larger group earlier in the year (55 and then 45 players) didn't meet their need for focused work, though it did offer more depth. The 37-man squad started training in Johannesburg on Sunday, and after three sessions by Tuesday afternoon, Erasmus told the media that he was happy with their progress. More time to focus on players 'We just decided after the four games [Barbarians, Italy twice, and Georgia] that giving guys two weeks off before we go full-on Rugby Championship was a bit too long,' the Springbok coach said. 'So this week has basically given us time to go through every single facet of our game and be 100% aligned between players, coaches, strength and conditioning staff, and the medical team. That all the players know exactly what we expect from them, what is happening in the next couple of weeks.' He said the squad was focusing on their conditioning programme ahead of tough matches against 'top tier one' nations. 'When we were 46 or 47 most of the time, you had about 12 guys less at training to swop in and out. We did not cut the squad to drop guys, which a lot of people think. It was just to make sure that some of those guys… have a lot more one-on-one time. 'When Daan [Human] does the scrum and eight props have to swop in and three hookers, the locks…' Springboks get the most out of their training Erasmus said the larger squad provided a large player base who are comfortable in the Springbok setup. They know what is expected of them at international level. Their good scorelines despite having fresh faces, were a positive. And the players will be available going forward. But the Rugby Championship is a big competition with less margin for error. 'We will swop a little bit in and out against Australia in the two Test matches, seeing how much game time we can get into most of the guys. But the positive in this is having guys here and getting a hell of a lot of reps in the attack, in defence, at the breakdown, contesting systems, aerial skills, where it was a bit tough to get that right with the big squad.'
IOL News
15 hours ago
- Sport
- IOL News
What tough choices await Rassie Erasmus, Springboks before the 2027 Rugby World Cup?
Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus is trying to juggle the old and the new ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia. Image: Backpagepix Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus knows he is heading towards a point in the journey to the 2027 Rugby World Cup where he will have to make some big calls as far as some of his senior stars are concerned. It's been clear since the end of the triumphant 2023 Rugby World Cup in France that some of the players who won back-to-back Webb-Ellis trophies with Erasmus may not make it to Australia in two years' time. Some of the stalwarts of the South African game are close to the rugby twilight. Over the last 18 months Erasmus has had bloated Bok squads and has handed almost 20 players their debuts during that time. This year, for the home Tests against Italy and Georgia, the Boks operated with a squad of almost 50 players, with different players getting a taste of Test rugby. There has also been heavy rotation, with many of the senior players hardly playing full games. All of this is designed to manage workloads, but also expose more rookies to build capacity when those big decisions need to be made. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Erasmus says he is enjoying the talk and speculation around his squad's age ahead of the 2025 rugby showpiece event. It tells him people are still interested in the Boks winning doing an unprecedented 'three-peat'. However, he admits that he isn't '100 percent sure' how they are actually going to decide who makes the trip and who won't be traveling Down Under in two years' time. 'It hasn't actually happened before in South African rugby that people and the media talk about the squad's age ahead of a World Cup. And that's something that is good, because it shows that people are interested,' Erasmus told the media this week during their Rugby Championship camp. 'But for us, it's about performance, trying to calculate which guys will be there in 2027. That's why we had a camp of 45. 'Of course, we're not 100 percent sure yet. Some guys, we feel iffy. Some guys can definitely make it. Other guys are just freaks who can play like Johnny Sexton until they're 38, but you don't get a lot of those. '(For the youngsters), it's about making sure that you get some Test caps into guys, some experience of them understanding our coaching staff, understanding how our environment works, getting into hopefully most of the guys 10 plus Test caps before we go to that Rugby World Cup. At the start of the season, when the Boks got together for the first time, they went through vigorous fitness testing, which players such as Cheslin Kolbe described as the toughest thing they have ever experienced in a Bok camp. Erasmus explained that this was designed to check where the players are at in terms of their fitness and performance levels. But it's clever that it's also a marker about where they need to be physically to continue playing for the Boks when competing with the youngsters. Erasmus, however, knows this core group of senior players inside out and will always give them the best chance to prove themselves worthy of another World Cup hunt. 'Obviously we just don't want to filter an experienced player out just because he's not going to play in 2027,' Erasmus said. 'You know, it will be very unfair on a senior player or older player, or more experienced player, because his Test match career can last until November 2026 and then he's done. Players don't plan their rugby lives around World Cups. They plan their rugby lives around their age and how well they can play. 'So if they are still the top one to three in their positions up until 2026, we'll probably play those guys. 'We are making plans like we have now, having bigger groups and making sure the younger guys coming through are quite comfortable and up to speed and confident playing the Springbok jersey. So I think we're okay.'
Daily Maverick
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Daily Maverick
The parallels between England's Lionesses and the Springboks in the art of winning tournaments
Though the sports are different, there are similarities between the Springboks' 2023 Rugby World Cup-winning campaign and England's recent defence of their European title. There are two main ways to win a tournament in sports. One is how the Brazilian men's soccer team did it at the 2002 World Cup. They crushed all challengers as they sauntered to overall victory by winning all their games. The other way is to grind out victories, fighting back when obituaries have already been scribed in relation to the team's campaign. England's senior women's soccer side employed this second strategy on the way to retaining their status as the best in Europe by winning Euro 2025. The Lionesses defeated reigning world champions Spain 3-1 on penalties to defend the title they first won in 2022, after the match ended in a 1-1 stalemate following 120 minutes of fierce fighting. The English victory was sweet revenge for their failure in the 2023 World Cup final, where their Spanish counterparts downed them 1-0. Roller coaster campaign England's tumultuous campaign – which began with 2-1 group-stage defeat to fellow title hopefuls France – was characterised by grit, personality, unity, belief and dogged determination. Following that loss critics sounded the death knell on the Lionesses' title defence, with Spain firmly occupying the favourites seat as a result. Nevertheless, England won two of their remaining group games convincingly – against the Netherlands (4-0) and Wales (6-1) – to seal a spot in the quarterfinals. Those would be the last straightforward matches for the European champions. In the last eight, versus a tough Sweden, the Lionesses fought from 2-0 down to level the match at two all. Eventually penalties were needed to separate the teams, with England securing a 3-2 shootout win. Against Italy in the semifinals it was another marathon match as England clinched a 2-1 extra-time victory to reach a second successive Euro final. Surely their luck would run out in the final? Especially against a Spanish outfit that had swatted aside all competitors on the way to the decider, including eight-time European champions Germany. Yet, somehow England once again rallied from a goal down to level the score at 1-1 and drag the contest in their third consecutive extra-time battle. After no separation there, penalties were necessary, and the Lionesses roared to a 3-1 victory to retain their title. The win made coach Sarina Wiegman a three-time European champion following her orchestration of a smoother Euro win for England three years ago. Her first Euro gold came while she was in charge of her native Netherlands in 2017. Bok-like resilience Through winning their Euro matches by fine margins and also their ability to rally and find a way past difficult situations, the Lionesses invoked memories of the Springboks' 2023 World Cup campaign. Rassie Erasmus's team also lost in the group phase, a 13-8 defeat to Ireland which gave critics ample ammunition to cast doubt on the South Africans' ability to retain the title they had won in 2019. A narrow 29-28 win over World Cup hosts France in the quarterfinals added fuel to the fire of doubt, with the Boks branded lucky by detractors. However, just like the Lionesses, the rest of the Boks' knockout-phase campaign was characterised by slim victories, including a 12-11 win over New Zealand in the final. The campaign highlighted the Springboks' resilience, adaptability and inability to throw in the towel – under any circumstances. Traits which were also visible during the Lionesses' own roller coaster campaign at Euro 2025. Strong leadership Central to both teams being such mentality monsters are their coaches – Erasmus for the Boks and Wiegman for the Lionesses. By all accounts, both leaders are trailblazers and innovators in their sports. By instilling values of 'all for one and one for all', as well as crafting clear identities for their teams, they have built formidable outfits. Fuelling these talented and tenacious teams is the idea of playing for a bigger cause. For the Springboks it is about showing that despite South Africa's fractured past and its prevailing socioeconomic inequalities, it's possible for the people of the country to work together and produce something as exceptional as the national team. In the case of the Lionesses and Wiegman, the bigger picture revolves around the fact that, globally, women's sports are still fighting for the limelight and to be taken seriously. Stories like England's gritty Euro win add more layers to this ever-evolving story as women athletes play catch-up to their male counterparts after years of discrimination. Calm and collected Despite being a passionate advocate for women's sports, on the pitch Wiegman hardly ever shows emotion – for better or worse. She exudes calmness and this has trickled over into her players. 'We have players that have talent and the togetherness of this team is really incredible. But also, the belief that we can come back,' Wiegman said. 'The players say we can win by any means, and we just never, ever give up.' 'She's probably one of the best managers I've played for in terms of trying to make everyone feel loved. She really, really cares about the human side,' midfielder Keira Walsh said of Wiegman. 'Another thing that you notice when you play for her is how calm she is. It makes a massive difference in the 95th minute when you're losing 1-0 and you look to the side and she's very calm. That speaks volumes of her as a manager,' Walsh added. Erasmus is the same in those pressure situations, with an ability to make game-winning alterations even in the most precarious situations. In essence, even though the Springboks and the Lionesses operate in slightly different ecosystems, their mentalities are quite similar. A strong team culture, meticulous preparation and the ability to not give up until the very end make them super-successful teams. DM
The South African
19 hours ago
- Sport
- The South African
Rassie Erasmus reveals big change to Springbok plans
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus and his management are renowned for their meticulous and carefully-considered planning for each and every part of the season. With the start of the Rugby Championship now just over two weeks away, Erasmus has interestingly revealed he called the team into camp earlier than was initially planned, perhaps indicating that he was not entirely satisfied with what took place during the July internationals. Erasmus admitted that this week's training camp was not originally part of their schedule, but he said it would benefit the team on several fronts. 'These two weeks of camp will give us time to align as coaches, as well as on the conditioning aspects for the players and to take stock from a medical perspective, so it's important in assisting us to get to where we want to be against three good countries in the series.' The Springboks are currently on a four-match winning run so far this season following victories against the Barbarians and an Incoming Series clean-sweep against Italy and Georgia. 'We would have eight weeks of proper preparation before we take the field in the Rugby Championship, and we are pleased with the physicality that Italy and Georgia brought against us in the last few weeks,' Erasmus did clarify. 'We have another three weeks to prepare for the matches against Australia, so we'll be working hard on the training field in the next few weeks.' The Bok coach added: 'We always knew that our first few matches would not be as tough as the Rugby Championship, even though the opposition was competitive and physical, but we are now going up against teams with solid game plans and a different intensity. 'Australia would have also come off the British & Irish Lions Series by the time we face them, so it will be a challenging tournament.' Rugby Championship fixtures: 16 August: SA v Australia – Ellis Park, Johannesburg (17:10) 23 August: SA v Australia – DHL Stadium, Cape Town (17:10) 6 September: New Zealand v SA – Eden Park, Auckland (09:05) 13 September: New Zealand v SA – Sky Stadium, Wellington (09:05) 27 September: SA v Argentina – Kings Park, Durban (17:10) 4 October: Argentina v SA – Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, London (15:00) Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news.
The Citizen
a day ago
- Sport
- The Citizen
Springboks are not less prepared than Australia after Italy, Georgia Tests — Rassie
The Springbok coach said Australia may face tough Lions opponents, but his players train against fellow World Cup winners. Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has defended the preparedness of his charges ahead of the Rugby Championship despite facing weaker opposition than Australia in the build-up. The Springboks play their first two matches of the tournament against the Wallabies, first in Joburg on 16 August and then in Cape Town on 23 August. Speaking to the media during their two-week training camp in Johannesburg, Erasmus said the camp had been extended due to concerns among the coaches. They felt players weren't getting focused training before and during their season openers. He said cutting the squad from his initial 55 at the beginning of the season down to 37 will allow the coaches to give players more one-on-one attention.
