Rassie Erasmus admits that plenty is on the line in 2025 despite the Springboks head coach’s focus being on creating a squad which is good enough to win the next Rugby World Cup.
South Africa, under their current boss, always work in four-year cycles and place less importance on the years between global tournaments.
That paid off in 2023 as they put their mixed form following the 2019 success to one side to lift the Webb Ellis Cup for the fourth time in their history.
They then followed that up with an outstanding 2024 as they won 11 and 13 Tests and claimed the Rugby Championship title.
Bringing through the South African youngsters
It could get harder this year, however, as Erasmus looks to bring through some younger players in time for the next World Cup.
In 2024, the Boks persisted with much of the old guard who took them to successive global titles, despite bringing through a few inexperienced individuals.
Erasmus therefore admits that he has to strike the right balance in 2025, making sure the squad continues to develop while also gaining the results.
With the 2027 World Cup draw taking place in December, South Africa will target remaining high up World Rugby rankings to make sure they are one of the top seeds.
“Getting the balance between building and continuing to win [in 2025] is the most important thing because the World Cup draw is at the end of the year,” he told reporters.
“We will try to build, but if we don’t have momentum, we won’t be able to build in the next Test.”
While the focus is on getting preparations right for a tilt at an unprecedented three-peat, that doesn’t mean Erasmus will be throwing any Test matches.
“Our planning has to be right for every Test; if you lose a little momentum, you could take one step back before you can take two steps forward,” he said.
“We really have our plans pretty much right. However, you never know if a team will come along that will put a stop to them. In that case, you have to plan again from scratch.”
Springboks’ July Tests
The Boks began their mid-year series with a game against the Barbarians later this month before they take on Italy twice and Georgia.
“Everyone expects us to just beat Italy. They were really competitive in the first two rounds of this year’s Six Nations, after which they struggled with their player depth as they don’t have such a large player pool,” Erasmus added.
“They will have a warm-up Test [against Namibia] before they play us. They will be physical and ready for us. They showed quite a bit of courage on defence [in the Six Nations]. We have to play in a way that everyone maintains their confidence in the Boks.”
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/rassie-erasmus-issues-rugby-world-cup-warning-to-springboks-as-head-coach-weighs-up-difficult-balancing-act-in-2025
