Schalk Brits says it was never part of Rassie Erasmus’ plan for the Springboks to win the 2019 World Cup, but rather lay the groundwork to challenge for the title four years later.
Speaking on the official Rugby World Cup podcast, the former Bok explained how Erasmus, after taking over as head coach in 2018, mapped out a process of building an experienced squad and perfect strategy for France 2023.
However, success came sooner than expected, as South Africa went from getting written off as contenders four years ago, to beating a more-fancied England team to lift the Webb Ellis Cup in Japan.
The Boks’ rags-to-riches story was largely attributed to Erasmus, now SA’s director of rugby, and the mastermind behind their bid to win an unprecedented fourth World Cup.
“Rassie is very precise in his planning, and the interesting part is none of the coaches has done it previously,” said Brits, who had been convinced by Erasmus to come out of retirement, and became the oldest World Cup winner at 38 years old.
“We came into the first meeting [in 2018] – we had played England in a Test series in SA – and he had all the games planned out until the final.
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“He said, ‘you’re going to play here, you’re going to play here, this is what we’re going to try’. And the aim wasn’t actually 2019, it was this [year’s] World Cup.
“He said nobody can turn a team around in 18 months; we’re going to have a proper shot at it [in 2023], this is what we’re going to do.
“We looked at different KPIs to make certain that our probability of winning [increased] and he went into depth on how we’re going to play, what’s truly South African.
“With winning you get confidence and we were all focusing on the process, but the results came and the belief came, and we got lucky in the 2019 World Cup playing certain teams and certain injuries happened, but hey, [for me] to bow out like that being in Japan was great.”
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Asked by former Scotland international Johnnie Beattie what was it in those discussions that made Erasmus and the Boks believe they couldn’t win Japan 2019, the 15-Test Brits added: “He referred to it as experience. He went to past World Cup-winning squads and said this is how many Test matches they had – ‘we don’t have it’.
“We don’t have the experience, we don’t have time, and unfortunately with a team like that, you need time together to build and understand each other.
“You want that experience … If you’re under pressure, you just want a guy who has been there and done that before. Handre Pollard hasn’t played in how many months [but] he got on the tee [against Tonga on Sunday] and just slotted those three-pointers.”
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