Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has admitted that winning the World Cup is always a big goal for the Boks and will take priority over the Boks becoming a more dominant and consistent team during the World Cup. Ta.
At Tuesday's Bok coaches' press conference, Erasmus, who led the Boks to two World Cup wins as head coach in 2019 and director of rugby last year, was asked if his next challenge was to improve the Boks. Ta. future win rate.
During the most recent World Cup cycle, which ran from 2021 to 2023 (after losing 2020 due to COVID-19), the Boks won 21 of 32 matches, a winning percentage of 66%.
Contradiction
Their glaring inconsistency was best illustrated after the Boks started the 2021 Rugby Championship by defeating Argentina twice, following a 2-1 win in the British & Irish Lions series. Then they went Down Under and lost twice to Australia, then finished the tournament on a high note. Victory over the All Blacks.
The Boks went on to lose to Australia, who had a terrible showing in the last World Cup cycle and the World Cup in France, and then again Down Under in 2022, finally defeating them in Sydney, in the country where they were seen. It will break the flow of a bad match. They haven't won there since 2013.
Erasmus explained his philosophy that the Boks' focus during the World Cup cycle is on the growth and improvement of the team, and that they want to win the World Cup rather than continue winning consistently but faltering in high-profile competitions. He said he hopes so.
“I don't know if I'm going to be honest, but…building a team, trialing players, giving players opportunities, always trying to strengthen the depth of the team, changing the way we do things, always trying to stay up to date. …That's our focus.” We have to try things,” Erasmus said.
“We certainly lost some test matches in the last few years between World Cups as we tried to find answers before the World Cup. As a head coach, it would be great to do better during the World Cup. right.
“But then again, do you want to get answers during the World Cup? We know we have a clean slate after conceding twice in the last two World Cups.
“We'd rather win the World Cup than have an 80% (winning percentage). It's better than not winning a World Cup at all and having an 80-85% winning percentage. We want to increase our winning percentage. But we have to be brave and take chances with young players.”
Senior players coaching young players
The Boks have also lost a lot of their old brigade during the current World Cup cycle, as a significant number of their players are already well into their 30s, and will be in their mid-to-late 30s by the time the 2027 Australian tournament arrives. will begin to retire in stages. .
“In 2018 we had a roadmap for our players and we thought, 'Where will this player be in 2019, 2023, 2027?'
“We know exactly which players are only going to stay for one more year and we have given them the task of helping the young players before they leave,” Erasmus said.
“But it's hard to say to players, 'Okay, no more.' We have players in their 30s who believe they can win another World Cup. Johnny Sexton won the World Cup I was 38 years old, but I don't think we are any older than the average age of 29 or 30.”