RUCK N ROLL
GAVIN RICH: A clever, gifted and experimental coach still has to win
The most jarring words from Erasmus pertained to what this loss meant to him
Full marks to Rassie Erasmus for accepting culpability for his team’s embarrassing defeat in Mendoza but perhaps the Springbok coach needs to go further and examine the fundamentals of his plan for the 2019 World Cup.It may be flawed.The most jarring words from Erasmus pertained to what this loss meant to him."It’s unfortunate as it means we are going to have to change the plans we had for our game against Australia. Now it is win at all costs," he said. What? Shouldn’t it have been win at all costs anyway? Isn’t winning everything in Test rugby?In that sentence is encapsulated a nagging concern that has been gnawing away throughout Erasmus’s tenure.The former Bok loose-forward is one of the best brains in rugby. One of his former employers referred to him as a creative genius and likened him to a gifted artist. But if that description fits, then Erasmus may also have some of the traits of such people — he can be inclined towards eccentricity. In a nutshell: maybe he thinks too much...
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