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Johan "Rassie" Erasmus (born 5 November 1972) is a South African rugby union coach and former player. He is the current head coach of the Springboks, the South African national team, currently in his second stint in charge of the team. Erasmus is widely regarded as one of the greatest rugby coaches of all time. He was the head coach of the South African national team from 2018 to the end of their 2019 World Cup campaign, doubling up on his duties as the first ever SARU Director of Rugby, to which he was appointed towards the end of 2017. He led South Africa to win the Rugby World Cup in 2019 and 2023. He also won the 2019 World Rugby Coach of the Year award. Erasmus played for the Free State, the Golden Lions, Cats and the Stormers. He won 36 caps for South Africa between 1997 and 2001, including playing at the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
As a coach, he has worked with Free State Cheetahs, Western Province and had spells as an adviser to the South Africa national team. He is also the former Director of Rugby of Irish provincial side Munster Rugby, and previously served as General Manager of High Performance Teams for the South African Rugby Union.
On 2 May 2024 Rassie received a Philosophiae Doctor (Honorary degree), in the discipline Coaching Science, from the NWU’s Faculty of Health Sciences for his exceptional management of the Springbok during their victorious 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cup campaigns.
Having firmly established himself as a starting flanker for South Africa, Erasmus joined the Cats ahead of the 1998 Super 12 season, where he continued to ply his trade until 2001. He was captain between 1999 and 2000, which saw the Cats make the 2000 Super 12 season semi-finals, only to lose to the Brumbies 28–5. In 2001, he was controversially stripped of his captaincy during season by coach Laurie Mains. Despite making the semi-finals again that season, both Erasmus and Mains departed the club at the end of the season, with reports citing their relationship one of the reasons.
In 1999, Erasmus was made captain for a single test against Australia during the 1999 Tri Nations Series. He was later named in the 30-man squad for the 1999 Rugby World Cup. He played in all but one game during the World Cup, which saw the Springboks bow out in the semi-final, losing to eventual champions, Australia 27–21, after extra time. In the third-place play-off, South Africa defeated New Zealand 22–18 to take third place.
After leaving the Cats at the end of the 2001 Super 12 season, and missing out on selection for the 2001 Tri Nations Series, Erasmus returned to the Free State ahead of the 2001 Currie Cup. Later that year he was selected for the Barbarians match against Australia, but withdrew due to injury. After a stop-start season in 2003, being brought in by the Stormers for their 2003 Super 12 season, Erasmus retired at the end of the season after a professional career lasting almost ten years.
He was also named the new Stormers head coach for the 2008 Super 14 season, where he helped improve the side to narrowly miss out on play-off places in the semi-final – lifting the team from their tenth place in 2007 to fifth in 2008. By mid 2009, Western Province and the Stormers revamped their structure, which saw Erasmus become a Senior professional coach for the region, and Allister Coetzee introduced as head coach for the province and Super Rugby side. Stormers retain coaching & management team With this new system, the region gained great success in 2010, with both the Stormers and Western Province progressing to the finals, only to lose to come runner-up in their respective tournaments. Whilst in 2011, the Stormers became the leading South African side, topping their conference a making the semi-finals for a second consecutive year.
In April 2011, it was announced that Erasmus will be part of the Springboks management team at the 2011 Rugby World Cup as a technical specialist. South Africa was knocked out by Australia in the quarter-finals, losing 9–11. Despite that he was meant to return to his duties with the Stormers and Western Province post World Cup, he quit the region in January 2012 to look for other coaching options.
After Heyneke Meyer was named as Peter de Villiers' replacement in January 2012, Erasmus was appointed General Manager: High Performance teams, in April of that year. Part of his role consisted of acting as an assistant to Meyer when the Springboks were in training camps.
On 7 May 2017, Erasmus won the 2016–17 Pro12 Coach of the Season award, an honour that was given to him at Guinness Pro12 Awards dinner in the Guinness Storehouse, Dublin.
In his first match in charge, Erasmus gave thirteen players their first test cap, in a one-off match in Washington, D.C. against Wales, who won the test 22–20. A week later, he secured his first win, a 42–39 win over England, during their three-test series. The series title was clinched in the second test, with the Springboks winning 23–12, to secure a series victory. However, South Africa were unable to gain the clean-sweep, after losing the third test, 25–10. During the 2018 Rugby Championship, Erasmus led the Springboks to second, the highest they had been since 2014. The 2018 Championship saw South Africa win three games, including a thrilling 36–34 victory over New Zealand in Wellington, South Africa's first win in New Zealand since 2009. After winning the 2019 World Cup, Erasmus revealed that had the Springboks lost that match, he would have tendered his resignation:
"We had lost to Australia and Argentina, and if we didn't win in Wellington I would have resigned... I have never lost three games in a row as a coach and if I did that I don't deserve to be a Springbok coach. We played New Zealand in Wellington and that was important, as if we lost it I wouldn't be here."South Africa came within moments of reclaiming the Freedom Cup in the final round, but a try by Ardie Savea in the dying moments of the game helped New Zealand snatch victory 32–30 in Pretoria and retain the cup.
The 2018 end-of-year tour for South Africa saw the team face mixed result; losing to England and Wales whilst beating France and Scotland. Following the tour, Erasmus stated that after the 2019 World Cup he would cease as head coach and revert to solely his Director of Rugby role.
The 2019 Rugby Championship saw the Springboks claim their fourth Southern Hemisphere title, their first since the inception of The Rugby Championship and their first since 2009. This came on the back of victories over Australia and Argentina, and a first draw with New Zealand since 1994.
The 2019 Rugby World Cup saw South Africa claim one of their greatest victories by winning the title for a third time despite a loss to New Zealand in the group stages. Victory over England in the final, after dispatching Japan and a grind-out victory over Wales in the knock-out stages, saw South Africa lift the Webb Ellis Cup in Tokyo.
If his team wins a game, Erasmus wears the same shirt for the next game.
He is also famous for his use of social media where he often sarcastically complains about refereeing after he started a Twitter account in the wake of 2019 Rugby World Cup. Three months before his suspension, he was suspected of using a burner account to air out his grievances against referees Nic Berry and Ben O'Keeffe. In 2022, he posted several videos shared with ironic messages on his official Twitter account to complain about referee calls after Springboks losses to Ireland on 5 November, and France a week later. Former international referee Nigel Owens condemned Erasmus' behaviour following the controversy, after many other columnists criticized him and called these kind of comments "bitter" or "ridiculous". On 17 November, he was suspended by World Rugby again and was banned for two matches. A few weeks after the feud, referee Wayne Barnes revealed that his family were threatened following Erasmus' tweets; his wife receiving Rape threat and his kids being targeted for a few days.
Cats
He was awarded an honorary
In 2024, Erasmus was awarded a Philosophiae Doctor (Honorary degree) by North-West University’s Faculty of Health Sciences in the discipline Coaching Science.
Erasmus was diagnosed with microscopic polyangiitis with granulomatosis in 2019.
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