The Springboks go into a new four-year cycle to the next Rugby World Cup with a distinct advantage.
Their back-to-back World Cup successes in 2019 and 2023 arrived despite reduced time in their preparation due to a coaching change and Covid-19 respectively.
Naturally head coach Rassie Erasmus is enthused by the prospect that as things stand he will have a complete four-year cycle in which to prepare his team for what could potentially be a first-ever hat-trick of wins in the competition.
“It feels like three years longer to get fired,” Erasmus joked when asked about having a complete cycle at his disposal.
“It's lekker. The highs are so high and the lows low. Sometimes you do something and people hate you for it. Mostly though people are backing our plans even if we bugger it up sometimes.
“Four years is a long time to mix and match and we will certainly do that,” said the head coach who relinquished his position of director of rugby with the departure of Jacques Nienaber.
Though there are some significant changes in the Bok coaching structure with the introduction of Tony Brown and Jerry Flannery after Nienaber and Felix Jones vacated office, the team will hold on to the principles that have served them well over the last six years.
“We will continue to build depth and experience and we have to transform. We will tick those boxes while trying to win,” Erasmus insisted.
The process of building depth is particularly pertinent this year as the Springboks have about a dozen players about the age of 32. Not all of them will wing their way to Australia for the next World Cup in 2027.
They will certainly have to undergo some change in the short term with influential No 8 Duane Vermeulen now retired and Siya Kolisi's position as captain in the balance.
Erasmus wants his players to keep their eye on the ball and not the horizon. “The players must take it year by year. I'll look to 2027 in my head and plan towards it. The players must focus on Wales and Ireland and the URC (United Rugby Championship) games and doing better.”
The opening Test against Wales at Twickenham on June 22 will present Erasmus the opportunity to blood young talent as the match will fall outside the designated Test window. None of the Springboks' based in Europe will be available and the coach can assemble his squad from players based in South Africa and Japan.
Erasmus will take great care in the way he assembles his squad for the Test against Wales. He faced a similar scenario, also on neutral soil in his first Test in charge of the Boks in 2018 when the teams clashed in Washington. The Boks back then had bigger fish to fry in the shape of England on consecutive weekends thereafter and sent a green horn team to the US capital. They lost at the death in Washington.
Erasmus has licence to select an experimental 23 for the match in London, but the cavalry will be restored by the time they run out at Loftus Versfeld for their High Noon duel with Ireland.
The Test against Portugal in Bloemfontein will present the coach another opportunity to look into the future before reverting to his established World Cup winners in the Rugby Championship.
We look at the fundamentals of the player. We don't look at their tactical play for their franchises.
— Rassie Erasmus
Erasmus will mix and match as he goes along. He made the point they have constructed a road map of all the players since 2018 and have a good idea of who may still contribute to the Bok cause in 2027.
“Let's see how fit the guys are — who's in shape, whose age is dragging them down.
“Are the best players versatile players, or position-specific players? We want the best players so if he plays better in both positions then we might go for him,” he said in relation to flyhalf but also what can be applied across the park.
With the Bulls, the only South African team occupying a spot in the top eight of the URC, Erasmus may need to restore confidence levels when the squad assembles in preparation for the international season. The Boks at the Sharks in particular may be in need of a pep talk after winning just one of their 11 matches in the URC.
“The way they are coached is different. I've been there,” he said about his days as a Super Rugby coach at the Stormers. “I tried a few things and wasn't always successful. We look at the fundamentals of the player. We don't look at their tactical play for their franchises. We don't have an influence on that. We know performance. Of course we'd love them to do better.”
The coach was upbeat the Springboks will have a clean bill of health by the time he has to select his squad for the trip to London.
“There are injuries but all are returning. It looks like they may be ready for that first game.”
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