{"id":41182,"date":"2025-11-09T12:01:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T12:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=41182"},"modified":"2025-11-09T12:01:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T12:01:07","slug":"rassie-erasmus-ingenuity-sets-springboks-apart-from-the-rest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2025\/11\/09\/rassie-erasmus-ingenuity-sets-springboks-apart-from-the-rest\/","title":{"rendered":"Rassie Erasmus&#8217; ingenuity sets Springboks apart from the rest"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>South Africa <\/strong>head coach <strong>Rassie Erasmus<\/strong> has long been lauded for revolutionising rugby with original strategic moves, but Saturday\u2019s epic comeback win over <strong>France <\/strong>highlighted his abilities as the world\u2019s leading tactician.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Free Spins, Flights, and Bets on Betway<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The 53-year-old led his back-to-back Rugby World Cup-winning outfit to a <strong>32-17<\/strong> win over Les Bleus, despite playing down a man for a whole half, with a centre covering at flanker.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-best-game-manager\"><strong>Best game manager<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>On the back of winning the Rugby Championship, it was an all-round performance against the Six Nations champions that clearly marks out the Springboks as the stand-out side in the game, well ahead of New Zealand, France and the rest \u2013 and Erasmus as the best game manager around.<\/p>\n<p><strong>UPDATED | Where does Rassie Erasmus rank as Springbok coach?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>During his Springbok tenure, the former Free State flanker, who won 37 international caps, has innovated with strokes of genius such as naming a bench with just one back and rolling mauls in open play.<\/p>\n<p>Using Andre Esterhuizen in two different positions for 40 minutes each was another masterstroke.<\/p>\n<p>Lock Lood de Jager\u2019s 40th minute red card forced Erasmus to react by bringing off iconic captain and back-rower <strong>Siya Kolisi <\/strong>on his 100th Test to make space for Esterhuizen to play a hybrid role.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur captain on his 100th match had to be taken off because we had to have Andre who can play loose forward and centre on the field,\u201d Rassie Erasmus told reporters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a tough call for the captain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we said it to him he took it on the chin,\u201d the former Springbok flanker added.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-contributed\"><strong>\u2018Contributed\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>In July, 31-year-old Esterhuizen, usually a centre for the club side Sharks, came off the bench against the Barbarians to feature among the Springbok forwards for the first time.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Andre Esterhuizen (C) celebrates after scoring SOuth Africa's second try at the Stade de France\" data-loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Rassie-Erasmus-ingenuity-sets-Springboks-apart-from-the-rest.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong><em>Andre Esterhuizen celebrates after scoring South Africa\u2019s second try at the Stade de France. Image: Franck FIFE \/ AFP<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The powerful midfielder did so again last weekend in the rout of Japan, before playing a crucial role at the Stade de France as the Boks fought back, having trailed by three points with 20 minutes to go.<\/p>\n<p>It was his try in the 65th minute which rolled the game in South Africa\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-more-versatile\"><strong>More versatile<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Earlier this week, ex-Munster director of rugby Rassie Erasmus said the move to try Esterhuizen in a different position, making him more versatile was to give him a chance of playing more Tests.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m still a centre, covering flank,\u201d Esterhuizen joked after the statement win in Paris.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was covering both when I came on.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was good, especially in a game like this where it was needed, it contributed quite a bit,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>In the opposite coaching box, France\u2019s <strong>Fabien Galthie<\/strong> made choices which simply backfired.<\/p>\n<p>With 32 minutes to play he brought on five forwards, in an attempt to mimick Erasmus\u2019 \u2018Bomb Squad\u2019 tactic of introducing a host of forwards from the bench at once, which worked superbly at the 2019 World Cup triumph.<\/p>\n<p>Sports newspaper L\u2019Equipe gave Galthie\u2019s replacements an average rating of <strong>four out of 10<\/strong> for their contributions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe gambled with our substitutions in the second half because their second-halves this season have been very good,\u201d Galthie said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019ve built a strategy with second-halves that are powerful and efficient,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>The defeat marked a second time in 23 months for Erasmus to get one over his French counterpart, who had visited him while he was working with the Irish province between 2016 and 2017.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"A glum Fabien Galthie after watching his France team outsmarted again by Rassie Erasmus' Springboks\" data-loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762689665_784_Rassie-Erasmus-ingenuity-sets-Springboks-apart-from-the-rest.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong><em>A glum Fabien Galthie after watching his France team outsmarted again by Rassie Erasmus\u2019 Springboks. Image: Anne-Christine POUJOULAT \/ AFP<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Two years ago, Rassie Erasmus beat Galthie\u2019s outfit at the Rugby World Cup, also at the Stade de France, with a simple, direct gameplan which included an accurate kicking game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey still have the same strengths, which they\u2019ve developed even further,\u201d Galthie said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn those sectors, they performed better than us, once again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re a great team,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-on-a-scale-of-1-to-10-how-much-of-the-springboks-current-success-is-due-to-rassie-erasmus\"><strong>On a scale of 1 to 10, how much of the Springboks\u2019 current success is due to Rassie Erasmus?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Let us know by clicking on the comment banner below \u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Rassie #Erasmus #ingenuity #sets #Springboks #rest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus has long been lauded for revolutionising rugby with original strategic moves, but Saturday\u2019s epic&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41182"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41182\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41184,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41182\/revisions\/41184"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}