World Cup-winner Schalk Brits says best of Rassie's Boks is still to come

World Cup winner Schalk Brits reckons Rassie Erasmus’s long-term plans are only now coming to fruition and that the Springboks will continue on their upward trajectory.

Erasmus took charge of the Boks in 2018, halfway through the four-year cycle between World Cups, and then his second four-year cycle was heavily disrupted by the Covid pandemic.

The current cycle is the first one in which the wily coach can fully implement his strategies.

“In 2018, Rassie took over after record losses against Ireland and New Zealand, when we were seventh in the world,” Brits told CoinPoker.com. “At first, he concentrated on the areas that give the biggest return on time spent — defence, set-piece, and the kicking game.

“The idea was to evolve, starting in 2019. Even then, we said the probability of winning the World Cup was very small because we lacked experience. We needed a bit of luck, and we got lucky by playing the percentages,” said Brits, who, as a 38-year-old, won a 2019 gold medal.

“The plan from 2019 to 2023 was to further evolve our game. Unfortunately, Covid came and stopped that evolution. Then the Lions tour came in 2021, leaving us with only a short period before 2023 to evolve again.”

Brits said that through grit and hard work, and a bit of luck, things went the way of the Springboks.

“At the 2023 World Cup, we lost against Ireland in a pool game, and in the knockouts, we won by one point, one point and one point against France, England, and New Zealand.”

“This is the first four-year rotation where Rassie can actually install a full plan, and the Boks can keep getting better,” Brits said.

“So, what has he done since 2023? He’s given more exposure to other players. He brought in Tony Brown as a new attack coach, saying, ‘Let’s evolve our attacking game.’"

Brits explained that Erasmus has been brilliant in growing depth to limit “key individual risk” in the Bok team.

“A few years ago, if Handre Pollard got injured, the Boks were in big trouble. It twice happened with another key player in Malcolm Marx, but the Boks have impressively evolved since those days.”

“It’s not just a key man like Pollard doing the same thing anymore,” Brits said. “You’ve got Pollard, who you know will win the game by playing in the right areas. But now he brings in Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Manie Libbok.”

Brits added that while Erasmus is a master planner, he also embraces an element of risk.

“We will still lose games, for example, the game we lost against Australia at Ellis Park. We overplayed in that game. Rassie said we don’t have the capacity yet to play an all-expansive game; we need to pull back a little bit. But those are the mistakes we will make to grow.

“He brings centre Andre Esterhuizen in, who can cover flanker if a red or yellow card comes. Kwagga Smith was the previous impact player; now Andre is an impact player, and he can still use Kwagga as well. Damian Willemse is playing 15, 12, and 10. Our scrumhalves can play wing.

“Rassie is trying to build athletes, even though you will always need a lock. He picks flankers and locks who can play multiple positions, giving you flexibility of choice. It takes bravery and guts to get to that position.”