Nick Mallett praises Rassie Erasmus for stamping out provincialism for betterment of Springboks

One of the big secrets to Rassie Erasmus’s success has been “to make the Springboks bigger than the provinces”, says former national coach Nick Mallett.

Mallett was the guest in the latest episode of “Rassie+”, the Bok coach’s podcast series that aims to inform the public about how things work at the world champions.

Erasmus was given his Springbok debut by Mallett back in 1997, and would win his first 16 Test matches as Mallett guided the Boks through a golden era.

Erasmus, a dynamic flank, lost just nine of his 37 Tests, and 35 of his appearances were under Mallett.

Mallett told Erasmus that one of his biggest accomplishments was to overcome rampant provincialism.

“Rassie, I couldn’t get it right but you have done it,” Mallett said on the podcast this week.

“When you were first appointed, myself and other former coaches met with you and warned that your biggest challenges would be transforming the side and eliminating provincialism.

“You have succeeded brilliantly on both counts.

“Rassie, you have made the Springboks bigger than the provinces.

“Supporting the Boks drives the country, but back then, there was so much politics between the provinces. Western Province and the Sharks were seen as more liberal, and the Bulls and Lions conservative.”

Erasmus answered: “Nick, you are so right. When I started playing, it was tribal. I was with the Cheetahs, and we were very tight and suspicious of the guys from the other provinces.”

Mallett praised Erasmus for understanding the positive role the media can play in changing opinions.

“A media person can turn the public against you in no time at all,” Mallett recalled.

“With the Gary Teichmann thing (Mallett controversially dropped the Bok captain), the whole of Durban and KZN turned on me. I couldn’t visit there without getting something thrown at me.

“Because I was English-speaking and didn’t speak Afrikaans, I didn’t have support in Bloemfontein. And in the end, I was probably not supported by any of the media.”

Erasmus said it took him a long time to work out that the media was not the “enemy”.

“I didn’t have an understanding of the media in my first five years of coaching, when I was with the Cheetahs and Stormers,” he said.

“I totally buggered it up. I actually thought they were the enemy.”

Erasmus’ perception of the media changed after spending two years in Ireland with Munster ahead of taking on the Springboks position in 2018.

“When we started, everybody was hashtag this, hashtag that, and they came up with #StrongerTogether. We had a workshop and we said, ‘but what does stronger together mean…?’”

Mallett praised Erasmus for understanding that engaging with the media was the answer.

“You have not gone out and asked them to support you. Instead, you’re giving them enough information for them to understand what you’re trying to do,” he said.

“Then they understand better why you play a certain way or make certain changes.

“And what you’ve created – and you’re the only Springbok coach who’s done it – is to make the Springboks bigger than the provinces, which it always should be.

“Now you go to Green Point (Cape Town) Stadium, there’ll be 38,000 supporters and the Bulls are playing; there’ll be Bulls supporters in the crowd, but everyone’s having a good time,” Mallett continued.

“No one’s saying, ‘we’re gonna donner you’ or have a fight.

“Collectively, we support the Springboks; that is what drives the country at the moment.

“The local rivalry is important, but not in the way that it was in those days when it could get out of hand.”