Coaching consistency key to Springbok dynasty that could be greatest world has ever seen

For much of the professional era, the Springboks were justifiably criticised for targeting World Cups at the expense of everything in between.

Before Rassie Erasmus took over the Springbok reins in 2018, the Boks had won just three Tri Nations/Rugby Championship titles since the tournament began in 1996, but had bagged two World Cups.

Under Erasmus, the Boks have added two more World Cups while also claiming two more Championships (2024 and 2025), becoming back-to-back “nog al” winners. This new consistency between World Cups is hardly by accident — it is very much by design.

The dew had barely settled on the Boks’ 2019 World Cup final win in Japan when Erasmus said the team had to have the ambition to be No. 1 in the world between World Cups, rather than just peaking for the global showpiece, followed by a historical player and coach clear-out as a new four-year cycle began.

The key to this, of course, was Erasmus and the core of his coaching staff continuing. Oddly, it took SA Rugby so long to realise the value of consistency in the Springbok set-up, when it had been clear that this had underpinned the success of the All Blacks in the professional era.

Graham Henry was head coach for nearly a decade before handing over to his assistant, Steve Hansen. Eight years later, Hansen passed the reins to another long-standing assistant, Ian Foster.

This year ends with the revelation that Erasmus and his assistants have had their contracts extended through to the 2031 World Cup in the USA.

It is news that will have the rugby world quaking at the prospect of the dynasty Field Marshal Erasmus could build, supported by brilliant lieutenants in Tony Brown, Mzwandile Stick, Felix Jones, Jerry Flannery, Daan Human, Deon Davids and Duane Vermeulen.

Pre-Erasmus, Springbok coaches would finish their tenure at the end of a World Cup, and their successors would start afresh with their own ideas, preferred assistants, and chosen players. These new eras would begin with almost no momentum — Jake White, despite winning the 2007 World Cup, was discarded for his efforts.

This was nonsensical when compared to the benefits of maintaining continuity at the Springbok helm. Since the Boks lost to Ireland in a 2023 World Cup pool game, they have lost just four of their subsequent 31 matches.

In 2024, they won 11 of 13 games, while in 2025 they secured 12 victories from 14 Tests. Crucially, this golden run has occurred while Erasmus has been building depth — in 2024 and 2025, he used around 50 players per year.

This year, the rugby world watched in admiration as Erasmus rotated his squad while achieving massive results: dismantling Argentina in Durban, smashing the All Blacks by a record margin in Wellington, humiliating France in Paris despite playing most of the match with 14 men, and dominating Ireland in Dublin.

It was also a year of tactical experimentation. Against the Wallabies in Johannesburg, the Boks learned the folly of an all-out attacking onslaught.

They scored at a point-a-minute pace in the first quarter, but the relentless tempo exhausted their forwards, allowing the Aussies to stage an unlikely comeback and win 38-22.

The Boks ended the year with a 73-0 rout of Wales in Cardiff. More significant than the scoreline was that only three players in the starting XV had played in the 2023 World Cup final.

This demonstrates Erasmus’ commitment to growing squad depth as the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia looms.

When the curtain fell on the five-match tour — and on the season — the rugby world united in admiration for the South Africans. Even the Boks’ fiercest critics, from former Scotland coach Matt Williams to All Black legend John Kirwan, agreed: South Africa is a country mile ahead of the next-best team.