Ex-Springboks star urges Rassie Erasmus to set bold pre-World Cup ...

Robbie Fleck believes that the Springboks should be setting lofty ambitions over the next four-year cycle after becoming back-to-back world champions.

South Africa secured their second successive Rugby World Cup title – their fourth in total – by defeating the All Blacks in the 2023 final.

Rassie Erasmus has stayed on for the next global tournament as they attempt to achieve an unprecedented three-peat, but Fleck believes that the Springboks can do more.

They have changed their game plan slightly in 2024 after bringing in Tony Brown, a move that the former Bok called a “stroke of genius.”

“Rassie’s next challenge and this group’s next challenge, obviously that want to make it three World Cups in a row but also that unbeaten Test record – that’s certainly something that this team is capable of doing,” he told the Boks Office podcast.

“With the amount of experience and youth coming through maybe that is something that they are talking about on the sideline.

“There has to be new challenges for this team now, they have won a British and Irish Lions series, two World Cups and they have done well against the so-called world number one sides so what is their next challenge? I would definitely be having those conversations with the players because there is a legacy being created with this group.”

If Erasmus does go for that unbeaten Test record for a tier one nation, it currently stands at 23 by New Zealand.

The All Blacks – alongside England – have also secured the most wins in a row with 18, which means the Boks have plenty of work to do if they are to take those records.

However, the 2027 World Cup is no doubt the head coach’s priority as they look to peak at the right time for the global tournament in Australia.

He has had plans for each of the previous two World Cups and Fleck expects him to bring something different for the next one.

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“You think about Rassie’s preps in the previous World Cups,” he said. “I remember him coming to chat to us as Stormers coaches and the whole preparation was about, ‘where do we get the most penalties and in which part of the field, and how do we get those penalties?’

“His research is outstanding. He knew that he was going to win the World Cup on penalties. They ended up playing against England and they would get a penalty and play penalty advantage – that’s the only time they really attacked.

“At the end of the game against England, they started to open it up but they were just brutal in that final.

“Then this World Cup that we just won now, he brought in an element of the counter-attack, the turnover attack, selecting those type of players.

“He’s always brought something different to each World Cup. It’s still based on the Springbok DNA of a strong set-piece, big runners and strong defence.

“What is the third World Cup going to be about? There has to be a different dynamic that we’re going to have to follow.”

The Springboks appear to have taken a more expansive approach since the World Cup after hiring New Zealander Brown as their attack coach, which could prove to be a point of difference going forward.

“Eventually, Ireland did work us out, the All Blacks nearly did work us out – they can nullify the set-piece at times if they get the selection right and their tactics right,” Fleck added.

“We have to bring something different and that is why I think it is a stroke of genius from Rassie and SA Rugby to bring in a Tony Brown.

“It brings in a different dynamic but it also caters to the likes of Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cheslin Kolbe, Willie le Roux. There are so many of those types of players in South Africa at the moment that are just coming through the ranks.

“We can look after them and give the boys confidence to play this style of rugby, so that we can play both. Now we’ve got a plan B and maybe even a plan C.”

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