Playing overseas made Faf as a player - Rassie

If the Springboks go on to win the World Cup over the next eight days overseas influence would have had a large role to play in the triumph.

Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus has consistently spoken about how he became a better coach during his stint in Ireland and learnt a lot about true professionalism, and he did so again when pressed this week. And Bok tactical kingpin Faf de Klerk acknowledged the role that English club Sale Sharks have played in turning him into the more complete scrumhalf he needed to become in order to play international rugby.

According to De Klerk, his move to Sale in 2017 was pivotal to his development.

"I was still at the Lions that year and still enjoying it there. We went to the final that year, but when I got an opportunity to go to Sale I jumped at it and it has turned out very well for me," said De Klerk.

"At Sale I got put into a role where I needed to make a difference to the team and a lot of responsibility came my way in terms of how we wanted to play, how we wanted to execute our kicking game, how we wanted to play our running game. I started to take on more responsibility and started to kick for posts more.

"It all helped a lot towards getting me to where I am now. I got a lot of starts too, and played a lot of rugby. The head coach Steve Diamond backed me continuously, so playing with a lot less pressure helped me get into the groove."

Former Bok scrumhalf Fourie du Preez, in commenting on the coaching culture in South Africa, has said that he learned more in one year in Japan than he learned in his whole career before that back home, and what De Klerk says may be in keeping with that. There are several players who left South Africa and returned as much more complete players dating back to Percy Montgomery in the middle of the last decade.

Erasmus, who got to see the other side when he was at Munster, agrees that the move to Sale was what placed De Klerk where he is now, and also took some culpability for being part of a culture before that didn’t drive players to be complete in terms of what they could present in different situations.

"In Ireland, you have 160 players, so you have to rely on them, you have to coach them to be better. In South Africa we have so many players coming through that if a guy doesn't work out we just call for the next cab off the rank," said Erasmus.

"I think when Faf moved out of SA to play for Sale he definitely got a new skill set. When he went to Sale he went to a place where he has to manage a game much more than maybe was the case in South Africa. In South Africa, we are not always tactical. The weather conditions encourage running rugby and sometimes you can play off the cuff in playing a fast-paced game.

"From my experience at Munster, it is much different and more of a challenge over there. A scrumhalf has to know how to vary the game, he has to have a kicking game, he has to know when you must slow the game down, when it should be cranked up. You have to control the forwards and be a great communicator."

Erasmus added that this was something that hadn’t been taught to De Klerk when he was playing in South Africa.

"I’m not saying that it was because of a specific coach. It is not because of the coaches, but because of our rugby culture. I was guilty of it too before I left South Africa. Faf really learnt a lot at Sale."

The Bok coach acknowledged the massive role that De Klerk, who was dropped after his initial stint with the Boks because he was not well-rounded enough, now plays in the Bok game-plan.

"Tactically, the way he communicates with the backline and also with the big pack of forwards in front of him, it is very important to us," said Erasmus.

"Yes sometimes he gets it wrong and sometimes we may overdo stuff, which irritates people. And we take that on the chin. But most of the time he is marshalling very well, playing a big role in driving the pack and getting them to go forward. He works together with Handre who is at No 10 and together they form a very good link.

"When Faf gets in and puts in big tackles it also lifts the players around him. A young guy like Herschel Jantjies is also learning a lot from him, and that is important too," he added.

The defensive work that De Klerk does cannot be underestimated in terms of its value to the team effort. Again, as is the case with everything that the ultra-meticulous Erasmus presides over with his acute attention to detail, there is nothing sporadic about De Klerk’s outstanding defensive contributions. It is all thought out and planned.

"It might look like it is a bit role-less, but I can assure there is a bit of a role going in there, it is not just something that happens willy nilly," says De Klerk.

"There’s a lot of planning that goes into it. I have to make sure we are covered on both sides of a ruck, that there are no spaces. The No 9s in our system have to make sure we come off our line and that the numbers are correct on both sides. Then after that I am basically just trying to do well for the team by making or creating a turn-over opportunity.

"I think that is the one great thing about this team. Everyone is up for it. We see the guys being very physical and that drives us. We really pitched up in that respect last weekend."