The clever Rassie move that could trouble England
Rassie Erasmus rarely makes appointments without a clear purpose, and the arrival of former England analyst Joe Lewis appears to be another calculated move by the Springbok mastermind.
With England arriving at Ellis Park for Saturday’s Nations Championship opener, Erasmus confirmed that Lewis’ intimate knowledge of Steve Borthwick’s setup is already proving valuable to the world champions.
Lewis joined the Springboks after working with England during this year’s Six Nations.
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Asked during a media briefing on Monday whether Lewis’ inside knowledge of England gave the Springboks an advantage, Erasmus didn’t hesitate.
“Yeah, of course. He’s familiar with England. Without a doubt,” Erasmus said.
The Bok coach explained that player and coaching movement between international teams has long meant rugby’s intellectual property is constantly shared.
“It’s like when Matthew Proudfoot left us in 2019 and the next year we played England,” Erasmus said.
“There’s a guy called Byron McGuigan, and he spent a whole week with us as Sale Sharks coach and I’m pretty sure he has a lot of stuff. Eddie Jones moved from England to Australia and then Australia to Japan, so obviously some IP gets transferred, and it’s the same with Joe.”
But Erasmus stressed Lewis was not recruited solely because of his England connections.
Instead, his appointment forms part of a deliberate effort to modernise and expand the Springboks’ analysis department to match the leading nations in world rugby.
“I still think we’re far off the other Tier One nations,” Erasmus admitted.
“They’ve got more analysts. We were always in a mode where one analyst gathered the data and then the coaches filtered it.”
Lewis now works alongside Lindsay Weyer and head of athletic performance Paddy Sullivan, with each taking responsibility for different areas of analysis.
“What Lindsay, Paddy and Joe bring is that we’ve now got analysts working in different departments. Paddy looks after the scrums and line-outs, Lindsay focuses on the backline, so it’s good to get fresh voices and different ideas.”
Erasmus revealed the Springboks had already identified the need for additional analysts before Lewis became available.
“We always had only one analyst, but when you look at the Tier One nations, some have five analysts and I think France has eight. England also has a lot.
“We were looking for another analyst and Joe was available. Obviously, we scan everywhere.”
He added that Sullivan’s experience in French rugby also brings fresh perspectives to the coaching group.
“Paddy is Irish but worked in the French league for a long time, so you get good information and ideas from there as well. If you get a guy of Joe’s calibre available, it’s fantastic to have him, and fortunately he was available.”
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