Why Rassie Erasmus only follows one account on X and it’s the All Blacks

Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus currently only follows one account on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. In the lead-up to what could be the Springboks’ biggest Test of the year, Erasmus has chosen to follow just one account – the All Blacks.

Erasmus has more than 200,000 followers on X but it’s far more topical to look at what the head coach has decided to do on the platform. The two-time Rugby World Cup winner has changed his cover photo to the Webb Ellis Cup and has decided to monitor the Boks’ fierce foes.

South Africa beat the All Blacks 12-11 in the Rugby World Cup Final last October. It was another epically eventful bout between the two Test rugby heavyweights, and another chapter in the history of their rivalry will be written on Saturday evening.

For the first time since last year’s decider at Stade de France, the Springboks and All Blacks will go head-to-head when they take the field at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park. New Zealand have beaten South Africa in three of their last four meetings at the world-famous venue.

But the Springboks are widely considered to be the favourites. The world champions looked frighteningly good in two Tests against the Wallabies in Australia earlier this month, and they’ll look to build off those performances against the touring All Blacks.

Erasmus named a star-studded side to take on New Zealand on Tuesday, with the coach in good spirits only a matter of days out from the Test. When this writer asked Erasmus why he only follows the All Blacks on X, the rugby guru offered an intelligent explanation in reply.

“Probably a few beers,” Erasmus initially quipped. “It’s just interesting for me, it’s not mind games. Guys Tweet stuff about their team and you see it and you might learn something there. You might see ‘this guy’s not strapped, they say he’s injured.’

“It’s just like I get the newspaper… it’s only online, then you go and look there and see what you can see and you look at the photos and you try and see what they’re trying to do there.

“It’s really just nice to know what they’re up to; when did they arrive, where do they stay? Because I see myself when I stayed in Munster and I came here for a holiday or to play with Munster, how exciting – they want to land in Joburg. They want to fly straight to Cape Town but then they want to go to the Kruger (National Park). It’s those kind of things.

“It’s nice to know how the other countries see and some of the training stuff is interesting.”

The All Blacks won’t name their team until Thursday morning (SAST) but Erasmus is able to do a bit of homework, analysis and preparation for the Test thanks to the world of social media. It’s an approach that reinforces just how devoted Erasmus is to Springboks rugby.

But that doesn’t mean Erasmus and the other Springboks coaches are only focused on the All Blacks, the world champions have their own issues to address – including a genuine injury crisis that has swept through the second row.

Eben Etzebeth was left out of South Africa’s matchday 23 but is still, it seems, a chance of taking the field at Ellis Park. Etzebeth joins a worryingly long list of Springbok locks who have been ruled out or in doubt for the highly anticipated clash.

“We announced the team last night with Eben out because if you don’t train on the Monday after the team is announced internally, you don’t play on Saturday,” Erasmus told reporters on Tuesday.

“Eben did the whole training session on Monday and we need to see how Tuesday’s one goes, from where I’ll have a chat with all the players to see if we’ll make a change.

“He may miraculously recover, and the doctor said there was some science behind that and not just the will to play for the big occasion like the All Blacks.

“If that’s the case, we’ll be happy, but it will be very unlucky in terms of Elrigh (Louw), Marco (van Staden) or Kwagga (Smith) in terms of being left out.

“We’ll think clearly, see how Pieter-Steph moves, from where we’ll make the call.”