Rassie Erasmus: The Despatch Boy Who Became a Two-Time World Cup Winning Coach

So Rassie Erasmus is trending in South Africa today, and there are two reasons really. First, today 5 November is his birthday, he turns 54. Second, he has just named his Springbok team to face Italy in Turin this Saturday, and Bok fans are arguing about every single name on that list like they always do. Even people who don’t follow rugby know his face, the man in the cap with the lights and the strange hand signals, so let me tell you properly who he is.

Quick facts

Full name: Johan Erasmus
Known as: Rassie Erasmus
Born: 5 November 1972
Hometown: Despatch, Eastern Cape, South Africa
Job: Head coach of the Springboks
Playing position: Flanker
Springbok caps as a player: 36, between 1997 and 2001
Biggest wins as coach: Rugby World Cup 2019 and Rugby World Cup 2023

Small town boy from Despatch

Rassie grew up in Despatch, a small town in the Eastern Cape not far from what used to be called Port Elizabeth. It was not an easy home, he has spoken before about his father’s battle with addiction, and he has said that kind of upbringing shaped the way he sees people and pressure. He went to the University of the Free State, and that is where his rugby really took off.

The player

People forget that before all the coaching drama, Rassie was a very good flanker. He started his top level career with the Free State in the 1994 Currie Cup, and later he played for the Golden Lions, the Cats and the Stormers. He won 36 caps for South Africa from 1997 to 2001, and he was part of the squad at the 1999 Rugby World Cup. He was known as a smart player, the kind who reads the game before it happens, which honestly sounds exactly like the coach he became.

The coach who kept moving

When he stopped playing he went straight into coaching. He worked with the Free State Cheetahs, then Western Province, and he had spells as an adviser to the national team. He also became general manager of high performance teams for SA Rugby, which is a long title but basically he was building the system behind the players.

Then he went abroad. He became director of rugby at Munster in Ireland, and people over there still speak well of the job he did. In late 2017 SA Rugby called him home and made him the first ever SARU Director of Rugby, and in 2018 he also took over as Springbok head coach, doing the two jobs at the same time.

2019 and the Kolisi era

This is the part every South African remembers. Rassie made Siya Kolisi the first Black Test captain of the Springboks, and in just under two years he took a struggling team and won the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, beating England in the final. He was named World Rugby Coach of the Year for 2019. After that World Cup he stepped back into the Director of Rugby role and Jacques Nienaber took over as head coach, but everybody knew Rassie was still close to everything.

Back to back

For the 2023 World Cup in France, the Boks won again, beating New Zealand by one point in the final. That made South Africa the first team to win four Rugby World Cups, and Rassie was right in the middle of it. After 2023 he returned as head coach, which is his second stint in the job, and he has kept winning. He has also been honoured at home, he received an honorary doctorate in coaching science from North-West University in May 2024, and in May 2026 the government gave him the National Order of Ikhamanga for his work in sport and nation building.

His style

What makes him different is that he is never afraid to try something new. The famous “bomb squad” bench full of big forwards, the 7-1 bench split that people said was crazy, picking young players nobody had heard of, he does all of that. He uses data a lot and he talks openly with the media in a way most coaches don’t. Some fans love it, some fans think he overthinks, but you can’t argue with the trophies. Many people now call him one of the best rugby minds of his generation.

Timeline

1972: Born on 5 November
1994: Starts his senior career with the Free State in the Currie Cup
1997: First Springbok cap
1999: Plays at the Rugby World Cup
2001: Last Test as a player, finishing with 36 caps
2016 to 2017: Director of rugby at Munster
2017: Named SA Rugby’s first Director of Rugby
2018: Becomes Springbok head coach
2019: Wins the Rugby World Cup in Japan and World Rugby Coach of the Year
2023: Springboks win the World Cup again in France
2024: Back as head coach, honorary doctorate from North-West University
2026: Receives the National Order of Ikhamanga, leads the Boks in the Nations Championship

Why he is trending right now

Like I said, it is his 54th birthday today, so the wishes are flying all over social media. But the bigger thing is the rugby. The Springboks are unbeaten in the new Nations Championship after beating England, Scotland and Wales in July, and they now play Italy at the Allianz Stadium in Turin on Saturday 7 November, kick off 13:40 South African time. After that it is France and Ireland away, then the finals weekend in London at the end of November.

Rassie named his team on Monday. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu starts at flyhalf, Siya Kolisi is in the back row, and Manie Libbok is on the bench. He had to work around injuries to big names like Eben Etzebeth, Cheslin Kolbe and Handré Pollard. Italy have only beaten South Africa once ever, back in 2016 in Florence, so the Boks are favourites, but fans remember that a weakened Bok side lost 42-38 to the Wallabies not long ago, so nobody is relaxed.

So that is Rassie Erasmus, the boy from Despatch who became a two time World Cup winning coach. Happy birthday to him, and let us see if he gets a win in Turin to celebrate.