Handre Pollard has shed a light on how Rassie Erasmus has shaped the Springboks into one of the most successful teams in history.
Speaking on the For The Love Of Rugby podcast with Dan Cole and Ben Youngs, Pollard explained that Erasmus’ style is rooted in an unparalleled ability to read and manage the dynamics of the Bok group.
“It’s an interesting one. It has sort of changed over the years because we’ve been together for a long time now,” Pollard said. “He’s not the guy who is going to have his personal connection with the players, he’s not going to know your wife or baby’s names, he’s not going to know your family’s story.
“He’ll know where you grew up and your history. He believes a lot of that shapes you into the player you will become, if you’ve gone through some hardships then the hardships of rugby will be nothing for you.
“We don’t sit and have coffee together. He comes in and does his thing. But he can read the group like I’ve never seen before. Even before we can pick something up within the group, he’s known it for two weeks already. He’s seen it coming from a mile.
“When we need to be shocked a bit, he does that. Naturally, when you have success, you can be the best bunch of guys ever, but egos are going to develop. He sees that from a mile and just shocks you on a Monday morning and puts you back in your seat.
“That’s why he’s so good. He doesn’t miss anything. He’s quite often not there, but knows everything, knows exactly what’s going on and he can read and feel for the group. He knows when we need confidence and when we need to be put in our place.
“It keeps everybody very equal and extremely hungry. Especially the older guys, your big dogs like Pieter-Steph, Siya and Eben. It’s not a fear of if I’m still going to play or not, it’s that I’ve gotta prove myself every single day, otherwise I won’t play. It doesn’t matter who you are. That’s what makes him special.”
Pollard added that Erasmus has made his careful man management an “art”, explaining that it is far from the aggressive reputation that has been built around the Bok coach.
“It’s not a militaristic, bash-you-down to keep you humble. It’s not that at all. It’s a real art. That’s what makes him so good. That’s why there’s not a lot of complacency in our group.
“The first thing he ever spoke about was entitlement. That’s the first thing that breaks a group up, if senior guys think they are important. That was way back when we started and it’s still something we live by. The influence that the older guys have on a group is so big. We’ve got a very different experience from our younger days to what we are giving the youngsters now. It’s different eras.
“There’s a lot you can say about him, but he’s a genius, isn’t he?”
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