Enjoy the moment, then Rassie wants focus

Enjoy the moment, but then we need to focus.

That was the core message from Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus as the victorious Rugby World Cup champions touched down at OR Tambo airport on Tuesday night.

Erasmus, who was celebrating his birthday, seemed overwhelmed at times by the support the team received, but was already planning the team’s next step after winning the coveted golden Webb Ellis trophy in Japan.

The Bok coach will take a step back into his role as Director of Rugby with a new coach destined to be appointed soon, but will still have an active role in the team’s fortunes as they navigate the next international season.

But it was clear from Erasmus’ answer that he now wants to focus on ensuring the Boks’ success is sustainable rather than a once-off, and that means making sure the next tiers down are successful as well.

Erasmus was celebrating his birthday on the return, but clearly already has his eye on his next task.

“I don’t want to get emotional about it but if I had one wish out of this World Cup – and if I think of 1995 and 2007 – the one wish is that we will work hard as a leadership of SA Rugby, and it will last for a week or two,” he said.

“But what we want to continue is what we see outside here- black and white, different religions, all people of differences coming together and working together. It’s nice to have it on my birthday, but if I had another wish on my birthday it is that we use this as a springboard to make sure that we don’t lose those things we had in 1995 and 2007.

“We need to make sure that we don’t miss out on all the things we had previously. That is one of the reasons why – I must clear it with the board – we have to make sure we focus on things like everyone getting equal chances in playing, everyone getting good nutrition and everyone getting a fair chance.

“There are so many things that we have to fix, it doesn’t help just focusing on the Springboks, because then we will only win every 12 years. We have to focus on so many other things to make the Springboks win consistently well.”

Part of that will be to get the four Super Rugby franchises on a par in terms of conditioning, coaching and nutrition, as well as the two PRO14 Rugby franchises so they can get the best out of the teams.