(Reuters) – South Africa captain Siya Kolisi said the honest environment created by coach Rassie Erasmus and his willingness to try new things were key to their success after the Springboks thumped Australia in their Rugby Championship opener on Saturday.
Kolisi opened the scoring for the Springboks in their 33-7 win in Brisbane after a double jump and pass from Ben-Jason Dixon to Eben Etzebeth in a trick lineout play set up the captain to score at the end of a rolling maul.
“We love having him as players because he’s played the game,” said Kolisi of Erasmus.
“He’s always honest with us and direct, always keeps us in check because we become superstars and you feel good about yourself and he always tells us from his time when he played, he keeps us humble and reminds us who we play for.
“And we love the way he thinks, he doesn’t think how everybody thinks, he’s always looking for other ways to make our team better. And our group, we are always willing to try something. We don’t say, ‘That’s not going to work'”.
Kolisis said Erasmus was also open to other ideas from the squad.
“Some players come with plans and coach is like, ‘OK, let’s try it’. That’s really what we enjoy about the team, no egos at all,” he added.
Erasmus led South Africa to the World Cup title in 2019 before taking over as director of rugby, although he remained heavily involved as Jacques Nienaber’s team retained the title in France last year.
His innovation and tactical acumen have been instrumental in South Africa’s success, with the 51-year-old delighted by Kolisi’s try from the lineout ruse.
“It’s nice when some of the old school moves come off,” said Erasmus, who returned as head coach earlier this year.
“We did that way back when I was playing and we didn’t have a lineout option and the one guy had to throw to me, and that’s how we could set up mauls and we just tried it and it works.
“We’re lucky when something like that comes up and works out.”
(Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Peter Rutherford)
