Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has publicly offered Wales counterpart Warren Gatland support as they prepare to square off, but like all the sporting greats, he will look for an edge anywhere to ensure his team are primed and ready for battle. And if no obvious edge presents itself, Erasmus is not beyond manufacturing one to emotionally lift the players. Basketball great Michael Jordan used to imagine an insult if none was forthcoming to rile himself up for key matches, and Erasmus uses some of that psychology as well.
As one squad insider said during the successful Rugby World Cup 2023 campaign: “Rassie is a master at ‘turning up the volume’ as the match approaches.” In other words, he knows how to gradually prime the players for action at the right time, not wasting emotional energy early in the build-up. Bok coach Rassie Erasmus has taken a conciliatory approach to his old rival, Wales coach Warren Gatland.
(Photo: Steve Haag Sports / Gallo Images) The 2021 series against the British & Irish Lions, when Erasmus was director of rugby but still intimately involved in Springbok team preparations, was the zenith of sporting psychological warfare. Erasmus’ now infamous 62-minute video after the first Test, which eviscerated referee Nic Berry and led to a 10-month ban , is what the series is most remembered for. But that was the major symptom of a series that was always going to explode because of lockdowns, isolation, bio-bubbles and good old fashioned mental sparring.