Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has revealed a version of himself that he wouldn’t pick to play for South Africa.

Before winning back-to-back World Cups with the Boks, Erasmus enjoyed a successful playing career, representing the Cheetahs, Cats, Stormers and Golden Lions between 1994 and 2003.

He also represented the Springboks on 36 occasions, scoring seven tries, and was a key cog in Nick Mallet’s back-row with the side going on to win 17 Test matches in a row.

In fact, he formed a formidable loose trio with Gary Teichmann and André Venter. While he was held in high regard and was highly rated during his playing career, Erasmus believes that he would not have selected himself for the Boks during a certain point of his career.

Erasmus during his time with the Cats

The period which the head coach was referring to was back in 1999 when he was the skipper of the Cats – who were a combination team made up of players from the Lions and the Cheetahs.

At the time, Erasmus was still a key member of the Springboks team and would captain the team for the only time in his career in Australia that year.

In the build-up to the United Rugby Championship derby between the Bulls and Lions, a highlight reel of Erasmus playing for the Cats against the Bulls was made with the former flanker starring in the match.

Despite a strong performance, Erasmus posted on social media that he would not have picked that version of himself for the Springboks.

“Played lekka rugby but was an entitled a******e of a teammate’!! Only played and worried about myself!! I would never pick that version of myself for the Boks,” he wrote on X.

However, he did point to a version of himself that he would pick pointing to his younger self two years prior.

“This version I would pick,” Erasmus replied to a previous post of him scoring his first Test try against the Wallabies back.

That post read: “This was my 1st five test, rugby not so lekka but did everything for the team(one can lose that and your team mates very quickly.”

Rassie being an ‘entitled a******e’

This is not the first time that Erasmus has reflected on this period of his life when he believes that he got too big-headed and didn’t care enough for his teammates.

He referenced this period during an alignment camp in the build to the 2019 Rugby World Cup when explaining to the players the journey of becoming a Springbok.

“You desperate to become a Springbok… so you sacrifice a lot everything and then get that honour of becoming a Springbok but you still sacrifice… and then you start getting that satisfaction and rewards,” he explained.

“You will sacrifice at all costs because you want to be a Springbok…but then unfortunately you get entitled which is a normal cycle, I don’t know many who haven’t gone there but it just matters how long you stay there.

“Some guys quickly understand that you need to keep sacrificing and the others become ‘has-beens’… If you check yourself on taking ownership [and not becoming entitled], those are the guys we want.”

He added: “Hell, I went through two years where nobody told me ‘you being an absolute d**k. I was player of the year, had a good contract, great money, I started every Test match and we won 17 Test matches in a row.

“But Harry Viljoen had to come in and eventually just drop me. I asked my buddy, ‘Why is this guy dropping me’ and he said ‘Because you are an a******e, are so entitled Rassie, you a bit of a virus in the team and moaning about training sessions.’

“I was such a bad team person and eventually my wife also told me that.”