Rassie Erasmus urges Springboks to embrace favourites tag

By SABC Sport
1st December 2025

Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus admitted they aren't always at their best when they are considered favourites and it's something they need to work on.

South Africa only lost two games in 2025 and are clear at the summit of the World Rugby rankings. The All Blacks are in second place but are almost four points behind the Boks heading into 2026.

Erasmus is always looking ahead to the next Rugby World Cup, with the head honcho planning around those four-year cycles.

When asked about what his plan was for his team, he said: "Just getting experience, getting better and trying to stay ahead of the pack is a nice challenge but we know what lies ahead for us next year.

"It's about getting comfortable sometimes being the favourite. We're not great at that in South Africa - when we're favourite we seem to find a problem somewhere.

"When we're the favourite, we must embrace it without being arrogant."

What happens in between the global tournaments is less important but they have impressed since the 2023 World Cup success.

"When we win a World Cup, people say: 'Yeah, but you don't do things in between the World Cups'. Now that we're doing things in between the World Cups, people say: 'But you're not going to peak in the World Cup'," Erasmus said.

"It's a difficult thing to please different point of views, but internally we just want to get better every game, and every player must get better.

"But guys are getting older and you have to manage that. When the young guys keep coming, I don't think their games are just getting better, but also their calmness and understanding."

Everyone is now gunning for them but they have so far handled it well, including on Saturday when they thrashed Wales 73-0.

Erasmus was forced into several changes, with some individuals playing their first-ever Test at the Principality Stadium, but they adapted excellently and demonstrated what the Boks are trying to do.

"When I asked the guys: 'How many haven't played here?' I think 11 put up their hand," he said.

"This is special for us, we like the horses in front of the bus, we like the military band, we like what the Welsh do and that was a new experience for guys that haven't played here.