Bob Skinstad, the former South Africa captain, has defended controversial Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus, saying he is adored back home for his innovative tactics.
Erasmus has enjoyed unprecedented success since taking charge of South African rugby in 2017.
They won a home series against the British & Irish Lions in 2021, and next year will be looking to complete a hat-trick of World Cup titles at the tournament in Australia.
His methods have frequently attracted controversy, though. That Lions series was overshadowed by a lengthy video of him picking apart the Test-match officiating which was leaked online – with some believing it came directly from him.
This week he was accused of sharp practice for altering his named starting XV a number of times ahead of the second Test of their four-game series against New Zealand.
Former New Zealand coach Steve Hansen said the chopping and changing of the side – which included altering the entire front row at late notice – was a “debacle”.
The Boks won that Test in Cape Town, to square the series at 1-1. The third game will be played in Johannesburg on Saturday, with the final game set for Baltimore in the United States a week later.
Despite the criticism from abroad, Skinstad says the coach is beloved because of the way he finds new ways to bring about success.
“He has been a breath of fresh air,” Skinstad said. “He’s got an attitude of wanting to protect the players; let me make the media frenzy, and let the players get on with what they're doing.
“There's two parts to it; Yes, he does attract attention, but I think he also attracts a lot of admiration.
“He was one of the first coaches to really embrace an analytic approach to style of play. He was one of the first to look into rotating a squad, even when you don't need to. He’s done some really good things.
“You can talk about the ‘bomb squad’ [referring to the ploy of loading the replacements bench with forwards] and that kind of thing where everybody thinks it's negative.
“But when you’re making decisions that have led World Rugby to adapt their laws, then you're innovating. Because of that innovation, I think at home in South Africa, they're absolutely adoring [him].”
Skinstad, whose 10-year career with the Springboks included being part of the 2007 World Cup winning team, was speaking ahead of the Dubai Sevens Long Lunch in Festival City.
“We have a saying in South Africa: a farmer always makes a plan,” Skinstad said of Erasmus’s popular appeal.
“It means, you are out there on your own, you've probably got nothing to work with, so you make a plan.
“It's something that everybody feels quite proud of, that innovation. I think they see that in him, and because of that, they just absolutely adore it. Each week he surprises the hell out of them.”
Skinstad reckons Erasmus’ relentless pursuit of excellence shows itself in the standards set by the rest of his coaching staff.
“You hear horror stories about these coaches where it's like: ‘It's 5am, I'm up, why are you not up?’ but he is not one of these guys,” Skinstad said.
“But he's got very high standards. [The coaches think] ‘We adhere to those standards, so we need to deliver a better presentation because we know how high his standards are. That’s exactly what you want in a working environment.”
