Rewind: Rassie the Springboks player revisited & it is special
Rassie Erasmus is the coaching genius who influenced the Springboks’ back to back World Cup wins in 2019 and 2023, but Rassie Erasmus the Springboks flanker was as good as a player, writes Mark Keohane
Rassie and I first met in 1996. Him as a player and me as a rugby journalist.
What a ride it has been. I loved the guy as a player, but would have preferred him to have been playing at the Stormers in his best years, loved him as the top dog when coaching the Stormers and loved him as a Springbok in a period when the Boks dominated the game under Nick Mallett, played some incredible rugby and were the envy of every team.
Mallett’s 1997/98 Boks were special in a rugby world when the All Blacks and Wallabies were potent and the blokes up north weren’t too shabby either.
Many, who interact with me on rugby, only know Rassie as the Boks coach, National Director of Rugby and mastermind behind two successive Springboks World Cup title wins.
I know Rassie, the player, the maverick, in every sense, and I know the rugby-playing youngster. Our careers dovetailed: him as a player, me as a rugby journalist and again him as a coach and me as a rugby journalist – and some – in terms of my daily media job, which entails a lot more than rugby.
I know that the rugby playing legends of South Africa, in particular the Springboks, aren’t celebrated enough. There is no reminder of just how good a player was in his prime; there is only a reference to his statistics or a lack of knowledge about his stats.
I have been very blessed to report on the Springboks since their international reintroduction in 1992. I was also fortunate to experience life from within the Springboks as their Communications Manager and advisor to two Springboks coaches between 2000 and 2003.
There is not a jersey I love more than that green and gold.
I also know a great rugby player when I see one and know a great rugby coach when I see one. Rassie is of the rare breed of both.
I want to celebrate the rugby playing career of Rassie, to set the tone for 2025 and the start of the journey to a potential Springboks World Cup three-peet.
Again, I am very fortunate to have known the genius of Nick Mallett the rugby player and rugby coach. I was even privileged enough to be coached by him as a 15 year-old and taken a few good jacks on the backside from the disciplinarian. Yes, it did impress the class in a co-ed School. Thank you Mr Mallett. You called it right: They (the young ladies in our class) are going to love you for these three. They did, written and said with the nicest and kindest smile.
I don’t need hindsight to appreciate the privilege of my rugby experience with Rassie and Saint Nick. I lie, simply Mallett, because that is how he refers to himself. ‘Mallett’. Equally, Rassie as Rassie.
One of the greatest Springbok Test matches was the 52-10 win against France at the The Parc des Princes, which was the national team’s home since 1906 before they moved to the Stade de France.
It was in 1997, to quote the Bleacher Report, that they ‘bade farewell to the old concrete citadel in the autumn of 1997 when they hosted the world champion Springboks … ‘But the Boks were in no mood to make it a fond farewell to the ageing stadium, and they inflicted a heavier beating than the one by which the ground was christened 91 years previously, when France lost to the All Blacks 38-8.’
Left wing Pieter Rossouw scored four tries, with Henry Honiball, Andre Snyman and Gary Teichmann all scoring as well.
Mallett’s Boks retired a great era of French players that day and Rassie was outstanding.
It remains one of the greatest Bok performances.
I bemoan that not enough is known about the exploits of those great wins. This year I will keep on reminding rugby people of the great historic wins. That is my 2025 rugby mission.
As for Rassie, I asked Mallett to detail, in a voice note what made him special in that 1997/1998/1999 period.
Mallett’s voice note was four minutes and 35 seconds, which is four minutes more than he gives to the pedigree of most players he coaches, and he has coached some of the finest.
Here is what he said: ‘When I took over in 97 I had watched his first (starting) game, which was against Australia, and he had a very good game there. Carel (du Plessis) had given him his Test debut, but the previous year, in 1996, he had been on tour with the Springboks under Andre Markgraaff. Carel and I were on the tour with the ‘B’ team and he spent a bit of time in that team. He was a very young guy, quite reserved and shy with regard to his coach; not with regard to his fellow players. But he really did have something special: He had beautiful hands, great anticipation and an ability to read the game. He had a deceptive speed in that; because he understood where the ball was going, he would get to the ball faster than players who were quicker than him because he understood the game.
‘He understood angles and the way the opposition were thinking. He would anticipate whether there was going to be a chip, or whether the centre was going to take it up, or a cross kick or the flyhalf was going to change direction. Whatever it was, he had such a good feel for it. He was such a good continuity player. Whether it was his hands or a pass, he was, for me, a much tougher Lauren Cabannes (wonderful French loose-forward, wbo also played for Western Province for a season), a kind of Rob Louw (former WP and Springboks) type of player.
‘He was always going to be selected for my team, when I became Bok coach. He was a really good blend with Andre Venter. He was such a good carrier and line out forward and carrier of the ball. He was a physical player and direct. This combined with Teich (Gary Teichmann) who was good under the high ball and good in the line outs. Teich did so much of the hard graft so a player of Rassie’s skill level had opportunity to be in the open play. You know, he could do extraordinary things. I remember in a game against Scotland, he did a cross kick when he was in the open and he suddenly realised that (left winger) Pieter Rossouw was open and he kicked this long cross kick and, having broken through, Rassie realised he lacked pace and support in that moment, but he saw Pieter’s positioning and potential space was, and he found it.
‘You know against France in Paris (97) and we had scored an early and they came straight back at us and attacked the blind side and he saw the pass coming before the guy had even made the pass, and he saw the interception coming and he made the pass to Pieter Rossouw to make the score. These are instances when he instinctively knew what the opposition was going to do and where he ought to benefit from it. From a team perspective, he had a nice sense of humour and he kept the guys on the toes and he and the other guys (Smiley Swanepoel) were always up to tricks.’
Legendary: the words of Nick Mallett on Rassie Erasmus, the player he coached internationally.
Thank you Nick.
For me (Keo again), Rassie’s playing career ended too early at 28 years-old but his coaching career could not have started quickly enough.
My personal Bok favourite of Rassie is that 1997 performance against France in Paris and, as the Springboks Communications Manager, I was in the shed, to celebrate his final Test for the Boks in the 20-15 win against France on the 23rd of June in 2001. Yip, he was just 28, having made his debut at 24 against the British & Irish Lions in a win in 1997. He started his career with a win and ended it with a win.
The player was special. The World Cup-winning coach is as special.
*Nick Mallett, as Springboks coach, selected Rassie Erasmus in 32 of his 36 Test matches. Carel du Plessis picked him for his first two Tests and Harry Viljoen for his final two Tests. Rassie started in every one of his 36 Tests for a 75% win record as a player.
*Every week in 20025 I will be celebrating a Springboks great and educating today’s kids about what made them great. The series is ‘REWIND’.
