'Rassie Erasmus is rugby's Pep Guardiola'
11/12/2024 04:17 AM
As Rassie Erasmus prepares to lead his Springboks into battle against England, he has been compared to a couple of soccer greats.
Rassie Erasmus is the genius behind the Springboks’ revival following its downfall in the dark era between 2015 and 2017.
Since then, he has inspired the Springboks to two World Cup wins, two Rugby Championship titles, a Lions Series victory and to the top of the World Rugby rankings.
SKINSTADT MAKES STUNNING ERASMUS COMPARISON
And it is those type of results that have now seen Springbok legend Bob Skinstad draw comparisons between Rassie Erasmus and Man City’s Pep Guardiola, who is widely regarded as the greatest soccer manager of all time.
"At the start of his coaching career I couldn't say I saw a Guardiola," Skinstad told PlanetRugby in an exclusive interview. "My goodness I can now. I can absolutely see that this guy could coach this team at this level for the next 15 years."
"Rassie is a wily old fox but so much more than that. He's doing different things with off-field stuff, different things with on-field stuff. Driving his team to be innovative. And I'm talking coaching team and playing team, which for me is the mark of a great coach."
Taking his analysis of Rassie Erasmus' influence on the Springboks even further, Skinstad said his drive to not only make South Africa the best team in the world, but to also keep them ahead of the chasing pack, is akin to the dynasty Sir Alex Ferguson built at Manchester United.
"Absolutely right, that's a lovely way of putting it," says Skinstad. "I think Rassie is a modern day rugby version of that kind of legacy maker."
DO YOU AGREE WITH THE COMPARISON BETWEEN RASSIE AND PEP?
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