{"id":50223,"date":"2026-02-18T05:26:02","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T05:26:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=50223"},"modified":"2026-02-18T05:26:02","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T05:26:02","slug":"ex-england-fullback-rassie-erasmus-has-back-up-big-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/02\/18\/ex-england-fullback-rassie-erasmus-has-back-up-big-talk\/","title":{"rendered":"Rassie has to back up big talk"},"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>Rassie Erasmus is one of the greatest coaches \u2013 and characters \u2013 in the game, and the 53-year-old is widely recognised as a national treasure in South Africa, but he has also created some enemies overseas due to his outspoken nature and different ways of doing things.<\/p>\n<p>The Springbok boss has recently extended his contract through to 2031, so he is not going anywhere soon, although it is now a pressure period as the team heads into a blockbuster season in 2026 before aiming to defend their World Cup title.<\/p>\n<p>Looking at the impact Rassie has had on the game, former England fullback\u00a0<strong>Ben Foden<\/strong> acknowledged he could be a divisive figure, but that he currently was walking the talk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you win back-to-back World Cups and you\u2019ve been sitting at number one in the world for the last few years, it helps! I\u2019m sure the air that he breathes is very crisp and very rarified. He can\u2019t really put a foot wrong,\u201d Foden told BOYLE Sports, who have been offering the latest\u00a0Six Nations odds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I\u2019m sure he comes under pressure as well. He\u2019s got to maintain it. He\u2019s already in the papers saying he\u2019s not interested in watching England because he\u2019s only interested in who is going to be the next threat for South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-love-him-or-hate-him-rassie-s-global-impact-is-undeniable\">Love him or hate him, Rassie\u2019s global impact is undeniable<\/h2>\n<p>Foden also highlighted how it was clear that Erasmus had secure the buy-in and backing of his players.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s always stirring the pot. He always knows how to get the best out of his players. We\u2019ve seen that from sort of behind the scenes of different TV shows and things he\u2019s been involved in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s great to have characters, to have a head coach that\u2019s willing to be out there, putting himself on the block. He\u2019s got the will and the nerve to back it up and luckily, he\u2019s coaching a great bunch of guys who back up his words every time they go out in the field.\u201d<\/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 #big #talk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rassie Erasmus is one of the greatest coaches \u2013 and characters \u2013 in the game, and the 53-year-old is widely&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50223","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\/50223","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=50223"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50223\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50225,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50223\/revisions\/50225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}