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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".
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.
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.
"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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Latest Comments
Ireland were ahead nearly the whole game. You got every decision. So who won is all that counts in Match 1, but in Match 2 its 'SA were in control, we should have won'. Thats classic SA supporter nonsense right there.
Go to commentsRazor is rebuilding foundations, as are Schmidt in Australia and Borthwick in England. You could add Wales to the list, but its not obvious there is a solution there. While good results would be great to see, they are not the way to measure these teams at this point.
Supporters should be looking for things like cultural commitment and cohesion, and basics like fitness, passing, tackling, kicking, and set piece execution. Other layers get built on that, including defensive structures, on-field communication, and positional combinations. And while you're building all of that you need to build depth of players in the squad. Its only when you have all of that in good shape that you can really be effective with attacking innovations, game plans, sophisticated game management, and effective tournament planning.
Some teams, including Ireland, France and SA, have been building all of this for years, with coaching continuity and plenty of time to refine it all. Right now, for "rebuild teams", like NZ, Oz and England, to be competitive at all is impressive. But in a couple of years things will be different. They may not be fully in their stride by then, but they will be consistently in the mix against anyone.
By RWC 2027 there are going to be seven or eight teams that will be serious contenders, including all four TRC teams. And I would not be surprised if NZ were ranked #1 at that point.
In the meantime supporters should be hoping for wins, but focusing on continuous improvement. It is what it is.
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