Rassie Erasmus has pulled off a massive recruitment drive, poaching England’s head analyst Joe Lewis. Photo: Backpagepix
Image: Backpagepix
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has burgled a highly rated performance analyst from England’s management team, in the form of Welshman Joe Lewis.
Erasmus is striving for an off-field dream team to support the Springboks in their bid to win three consecutive World Cup titles.
Lewis was on Steve Borthwick’s staff for the recently ended Six Nations and will shortly join Erasmus’s team as they ramp up preparations for the international season, which kicks off against the Barbarians in late June and features two exciting new competitions in the Nations Championship and Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tour.
Lewis's services will be of particular interest to Erasmus in the lead-up to the Boks' first Test of the year against England at Ellis Park on July 4.
Lewis, who holds a master’s degree in performance analysis from Cardiff Metropolitan University and a degree in sports management from the University of South Wales, served as England’s head analyst from 2017 to 2021, and senior analyst from 2022 until the conclusion of their Six Nations campaign earlier in March.
He has also worked with URC teams in the Scarlets and Ospreys. Lewis has been Wales’ national age-grade video analyst, and the New Zealand team Taranaki’s head analyst.
“We are delighted to welcome Joe to the Springbok team,” said Erasmus.
“Given his vast experience in technical and performance analysis at international and club level, we believe he will add great value to the squad as we prepare for a busy and exciting season, and further ahead to the 2027 RWC.
“His roles have seen him gain invaluable experience at the highest level of the game — at the 2019 World Cup, in the Six Nations competition, and Autumn Nations Cup, among other big tournaments, and we have no doubt he’ll slot into our set-up seamlessly.”
The Springboks will kick off their 2026 campaign against the Barbarians in Gqeberha on 20 June, before beginning the inaugural Nations Championship competition against England in Johannesburg (4 July), Scotland in Pretoria (11 July), and Wales in Durban (18 July).
They meet Argentina in Buenos Aires (8 August), and the All Blacks in four Tests in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tour in August and September.
This will be followed by an away Test against the Wallabies in Australia (27 September). The second leg of the Nations Championship kicks off in Europe at the end of the year, with matches against Italy (7 November), France (13 November), and Ireland (21 November), before the Finals Weekend in London (27 to 29 November).