Rassie primes Boks for crucial Wales battle after burying hatchet with beleaguered Gatland

Warren Gatland, the Wales head coach looks on prior to the Autumn Nations Series 2024 match between Wales and Australia at the Principality Stadium on November 17, 2024 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

By Craig Ray

21 Nov 2024

After a spiteful 2021 British & Irish Lions series during the Covid-19 pandemic, Bok coach Rassie Erasmus has taken a more conciliatory tone.

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has publicly offered Wales counterpart Warren Gatland support as they prepare to square off, but like all the sporting greats, he will look for an edge anywhere to ensure his team are primed and ready for battle.

And if no obvious edge presents itself, Erasmus is not beyond manufacturing one to emotionally lift the players. Basketball great Michael Jordan used to imagine an insult if none was forthcoming to rile himself up for key matches, and Erasmus uses some of that psychology as well.

As one squad insider said during the successful Rugby World Cup 2023 campaign: “Rassie is a master at ‘turning up the volume’ as the match approaches.” In other words, he knows how to gradually prime the players for action at the right time, not wasting emotional energy early in the build-up.

Bok coach Rassie Erasmus has taken a conciliatory approach to his old rival, Wales coach Warren Gatland. (Photo: Steve Haag Sports / Gallo Images)

The 2021 series against the British & Irish Lions, when Erasmus was director of rugby but still intimately involved in Springbok team preparations, was the zenith of sporting psychological warfare.

Erasmus’ now infamous 62-minute video after the first Test, which eviscerated referee Nic Berry and led to a 10-month ban, is what the series is most remembered for.

But that was the major symptom of a series that was always going to explode because of lockdowns, isolation, bio-bubbles and good old fashioned mental sparring.

Erasmus upped the ante by appearing as a “water boy” in the SA “A” match, prior to the Tests. By finding a loophole in the regulations that did not preclude the director of rugby from being on the sideline, he scored some psychological points. That rankled Lions coach Gatland.

Days later Gatland was quick to get some jabs in, leaking information to various British media outlets about the Lions questioning the neutrality of South African television match official Marius Jonker in that series.

When the Boks lost the first Test 22-17 after some questionable calls against them, Erasmus’ video intended for World Rugby officials was “leaked” into the public domain.

The fallout was massive and Erasmus and Gatland never had the chance to have a beer at the end of the series because of the Covid-19 protocols.

Ellis Bevan of Wales punts the ball upfield during the Summer Rugby International between South Africa and Wales at Twickenham Stadium on 22 June 2024 in London, England. (Photo: Warren Little / Getty Images)

Hatchet buried

But they met subsequently in London earlier this year where they were cordial. Now though, it seems the hatchet has been properly buried.

After years of needle and sparring against old adversary Gatland, the Wales coach and mentor of the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa, both coaches struck a more conciliatory tone this week.

The Boks are set to take on Wales at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, and if they win they will complete an undefeated northern hemisphere tour for the first time since 2013.

Wales, by contrast, are on a record-breaking run of a different kind — they have lost 11 consecutive Tests. They’ve gone through the entire 2024 season without a single victory.

Instead of using that stat as leverage in public, Erasmus chose to offer support to the beleaguered Gatland, who naturally is under pressure to survive after such an inglorious year.

Wales coach Warren Gatland is under tremendous pressure to deliver a win when his team face the Boks on Saturday. (Photo: David Rogers / Getty Images)

“Warren can’t all of a sudden become a bad coach with his track record,” Erasmus said at a media briefing in Cardiff on Tuesday.

“I know the record of losing 11 on the trot is obviously not great... but I just know Warren is a great coach. Look, coaching can become lonely. It is cut-throat. Whenever someone is under the pump, you don’t wish anything bad on that person.

“I wouldn’t say I would love him to beat us, but I would love him to be successful. Although we have bumped heads in the past, he is a rugby man through and through. I have got a lot of respect for him and I hope he gets the respect from everyone he deserves.”

Gatland, in turn, acknowledged that they had moved on.

“We’ve chatted on a couple of occasions about the Lions tour,” Gatland told the media at the naming of his team. “You’ve got to go past things that happened. We’ve had chats about that.”

Nothing to lose

Gatland is certainly not getting that respect in Wales. Former players such as Mike Phillips and Tom Shanklin have been scathing. Former Wales centre Jamie Roberts, who is also on the Welsh Rugby Union board, has also been critical.

Despite the understandable dissatisfaction, the Boks are doing their best to ensure their mentality is right for the game because it’s easy to believe the noise about how bad Wales are.

On paper, the outcome appears to be a formality for the Boks. Most think the world champions simply need to make the short trip from their hotel to the Principality Stadium, put their kit on, run around for 80 minutes to come away with a win.

You can be sure Erasmus won’t be one of those.

“Sometimes you just turn it around because players believe in a coach, sometimes you just say the right word and the players say they are going to do it for the coach and the country,” Erasmus said of Wales’ situation.

“They are a team with everything to gain and nothing to lose, so it would be careless of us to think that we just need to pitch up and the result will go in our favour.

“So we are preparing for the Wales we know. We find them very similar to Argentina, almost like South Africans, in terms of people working hard, grinding, normal people in the street and players who have ground it out. I don’t know what is going to happen to Warren, but I know he has beaten me more than I have beaten him. It’s 4-3 (to Gatland).”

And if you were wondering where Erasmus was going to find his edge this week, there it is. Gatland has a positive winning record against the Boks since Erasmus’ involvement in 2018.

That’s all Rassie needs to focus minds. DM

Wales vs Springboks — Saturday 23 November (7.40pm)

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Hatchet buried

Nothing to lose