Rassie addresses RWC 2027 favourites tag
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus addressed the favourites tag the South African national team has been given heading into the 2027 World Cup.
The Boks are currently in unfamiliar territory as favourites to win the upcoming RWC after previously going into the tournament as the underdogs.
However, this comes as no surprise. The Boks dominated the rugby world since winning the 2023 edition of the global showpiece, losing just four matches in two years.
They won the Rugby Championship, the Freedom Cup, the Nelson Mandela Challenge Plate, and went unbeaten on their end-of-year Nations Series tour for two consecutive seasons.
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When asked about his stance on the tag, Erasmus poured cold water on the subject, stating that their focus is on the upcoming 2026 Test season, and that the favourites tag can be lost very quickly a year out from a World Cup.
“We’re thinking of next year first. I can’t give you a different answer, because I will be lying,” Erasmus told @Rugby365.
“It’s a new competition, the Nations Cup.
“I can tell you that we are trying to build our team, and we are a really competitive team that can win it [the RWC] in 2027.
“But you can lose that sort of favourite tag very quickly, if you have a bad year, the year before the World Cup.
Erasmus also emphasised that the Boks embrace pressure and hope they can sustain that trait before heading into their World Cup title defence down under.
“I don’t think the team has ever responded negatively to pressure. If you look at the British and Irish Lions series, through COVID, in the 2019 and 2023 World Cups, [securing] one-point wins.
“Hopefully that doesn’t dry up before we get to the World Cup.
“But yeah, I don’t think tags – favourites or underdogs – bother us this time.
“I think when we get into the tournament, we might or might not even be favourites then.”
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