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Former rival explains why Rassie Erasmus is the world's greatest coach
By Josh Raisey
Leicester Tigers boss Michael Cheika believes “you can’t go past” South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus when picking the best coach in the world currently, whose Springboks side he says are looking “harder to stop”.
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Cheika has been Erasmus’ adversary over the past decade with both the Australian national team and the Argentinian, and highlighted the consistency the former Springbok has built with his team as one of the pillars of his success.
Of course, winning back-to-back World Cups is what makes Erasmus stand out in the Australian’s eyes, which is understandable.
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Joining Ben Youngs and Dan Cole, two members of his Leicester squad, recently on the For the Love of Rugby podcast, the former Rugby Championship winner explained what he believes makes a successful coach and why he holds Erasmus up in such high regard.
Erasmus has a chance to add to his burgeoning trophy haul this Saturday when his Springboks host Argentina in the final round of The Rugby Championship, knowing just a losing bonus point will bring them the title.
“I’ve always seen coaching, in my eyes, being about the right person, for the right team at the right time. It’s three-dimensional,” Cheika said on the podcast.
“So one coach could do a brilliant job in one place, and then perhaps that same coach, when he goes to another place, might struggle a little bit because what you need to be in that environment is not what your skill set is.
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“You really can’t go past a coach who’s led his country to two World Cups.
“It’s pretty hard to go past that. That’s eight years’ worth of continuity and success. People can say, ‘Oh yeah, he’s got a great playing pool and all that,’ but you’ve still got to make those players play better and stay at that consistent level.
“So Erasmus has been able to acquire such consistency with his team, and he’s building like a bit of a monolith there. They’re even looking harder to stop. Along the way, they’ve created success by winning The Rugby Championship several times. They’ve had a lot of success on November tours when they’ve come up to the north, and then, as well, they’ve been able to have success in two World Cups. You can’t go past that.”
But as someone who has coached in both codes – leading Lebanon at a Rugby League World Cup and serving as an assistant with the Sydney Roosters – Cheika is also full of admiration for some of the legends of the 13-man game.
“I go to the people with longevity,” he said. “If I go to NRL, you’ve got Craig Bellamy from Melbourne Storm, who’s been nearly 20 years there. They would have been finalists, top four, probably 18 or 17 of those. Trent Robinson, Wayne Bennett— those guys who have had long stints and have been able to create success over long periods of time.”
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