CARDIFF, WALES - NOVEMBER 28: South Africa head coach, Rassie Erasmus during the South African national men's rugby team captain's run at Cardiff Met University on November 28, 2025 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by Gareth Everett/Gallo Images)
Springbok messiah Rassie Erasmus has signed a four-year contract extension that will see him continue to coach the national team through to the 2031 World Cup in the USA.
By the end of that year Erasmus will have led the Boks over an incredible 14 years, as either head coach or director of rugby, which will be the longest ever reign over the national team.
In 2018, when Erasmus first came on board, after the disastrous two-year reign of Allister Coetzee, he took the dual role of Director of Rugby and head coach until the end of the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
Nienaber steps in
Technically, Erasmus then wasn’t in charge of the Boks from 2020 to 2023, with him switching full time to the Director of Rugby role, while Jacques Nienaber took over as head coach, but he still had a big say in things, as was seen in a few controversies during that time.
He made an hour-long video criticising Australian referee Nic Berry after the British and Irish Lions won the first Test of the 2021 series against the Boks, which was subsequently leaked and led to a ban from World Rugby. He also, somewhat controversially, acted as the Bok team’s water carrier, keeping him close to the action on the field.
Erasmus also used coloured lights and placards to communicate to coaches and players on the field during the 2023 Rugby World Cup, as he did with the Cheetahs back in 2006 – an indication that while he wasn’t the coach, he was still very much in charge of things.
However, the record books will show that Nienaber was the coach over those four years and not Erasmus. He then dropped the Director of Rugby role at the end of 2023 and signed on as head coach until after the 2027 World Cup in Australia, with Nienaber moving on to Ireland.
But could Erasmus even coach beyond 2031? If his unparalleled success with the Boks continues, it certainly is a possibility as he will turn 59 in November of that year.
Gatland reign
Warren Gatland is the currently the longest ever serving international rugby coach with one team, having coached Wales for just over 14 years over two stints, first from 2008 to 2019, and then from 2023 until he was relieved of his duties halfway through the Six Nations earlier this year.
In that time, he coached Wales in 151 Test matches, while his overall record is close to 200 when his stints as Ireland and British and Irish Lions coach are added in.
Other long serving coaches for one team are All Blacks legends Steve Hansen, eight years and 109 games, and Graham Henry, eight years and 106 matches.
On the Springbok front the longest serving coach is Danie Craven, who led the team for seven years from 1949 to 1956, although they only played 23 matches in that time.
Jake White is the current record holder in terms of games, having coached 54 over his four-year tenure from 2003 to 2007.
Erasmus will, however, break both those records by 2031, and will in fact pass White’s match record next year, with him having currently overseen 53 games over his four years as head coach so far.
There have been numerous other coaches in various sporting codes to boast long records with a single team, particularly in the NBA and NFL in the US.
Gregg Popovich coached the San Antonio Spurs in basketball for 29 years, while Tom Landry (Dallas Cowboys) and Curly Lambeau (Green Bay Packers) both also coached for 29 years in American Football.
Alex Furgeson famously coached Manchester United for 26 years in the English Premier League, while Guillermo Stabile is the longest serving international football coach after leading Argentina for 18 years.
Springbok future
While Erasmus might continue beyond 2031, things could also change with enough men in the current Bok set-up to take over.
In fact, assistant coaches such as Mzwandile Stick and Deon Davids, who have been with Erasmus since 2018, were at one stage tipped to possibly take over in 2027, and if they stay with the Boks through to the World Cup in the US, one of them could possibly take charge.
Nienaber has also been tipped for a return to the Boks when his contract with Leinster runs out in 2027, but whether that will happen remains to be seen.
This was reinforced by SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer, who in an interview with the SABC recently, explained that they had done away with their previous model of replacing coaches after the four-year World Cup cycle, as previous coaches White, Pieter de Villiers and Heyneke Meyer, had experienced.
“We are moving away from a cycle of coaches coaching for one World Cup cycle, and then we feel it’s important to change,” explained Oberholzer.
“We are now in a process of seeing if it’s working and the coach is having success, it’s to keep him or her on for the next phase and in that period, bring the next coach through that will take over from them.”
In any case, whoever follows Erasmus when he eventually bows out of SA Rugby, will have a monstrous task on their hands to continue the legacy that he will have created.
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