Freshening up with Rassie

HAVING ascended to the realm of coaching high priest, you believe Rassie Erasmus when he suggests his job entails surveying the detail in the hope of locating the devil.

It has again fallen to him to spot the pointy-tailed, fork- wielding Lucifers that beset the Springbok game before a World Cup.

"The devil is in the detail when you are in your fourth year as part of the squad ahead of a World Cup," the Bok technical consultant pointed out.

His days as a head coach are over and, much like Gordon Ramsey, who rarely brings anything in a far-flung franchise to the boil, the Erasmus influence, whether imparted as consultant or director of coaching, is only effective if those on the ground embrace it.

He spotted the demons as part of Jake White's coaching structure in 2007 and he's hopeful his advice will again find receptive ears.

My role is more or less the same. If you have a group of players together for four years certain things may be so familiar that they are taken for granted.

"After a Super 15 or the Currie Cup you have a week to prepare the Bok team and you don't have the opportunity to put everything back into place.

"It is very much like 2007, when we were able to get the guys together for a few weeks, and we treat it like a pre-season. The coaches have been together for four years and my role is to give the facts in black and white - like a refresher course.

"Obviously the coach makes the final call. I'm there to give the facts to make decisions a little easier," said Erasmus.

His involvement has other benefits. "When you are involved in the day-to-day grind of Super Rugby you pick up little trends pertaining to players and referees who may be involved in the World Cup. What is his style and how does he approach things?"

Of particular interest to Erasmus is the way referees will police the scrum. Seeing the referee extending his arm for a scrum penalty against the Springboks is going to frustrate him no end.

He believes the stiff-arm sanction is heavy handed, especially when you consider such game- changing conclusions are frequently arrived at by a whimsical stab in the dark.

"When it goes down, the scrum is just a lottery. You're not sure whether you're gonna get a free kick or a penalty. I don't have the answer and that's why I would like it to change.

"If a ref is only acting on suspicion and he gets it wrong, is it really worth three points?" he asked rhetorically.

"A penalty at scrum time frustrates all of us. We need to get to a universal way of thinking," Erasmus insisted.

The question that will linger with Springbok fans is whether within this much-decorated team there still resides the desire to again take their bodies to the extreme.

"The hunger has to be there. Surely Victor (Matfield) and Fourie (Du Preez) would want to finish on a high? The younger guys who want to take over would want to use this as a stepping stone. Mentally, I don't think we can be in a better position," said Erasmus.