Frans Steyn cannot quite fathom what goes through the minds of the South African brains trust as the Springboks great discussed their recent tactical innovation

Springboks great: ‘How much wine do Rassie Erasmus and Tony Brown have to think out these moves?’

Frans Steyn cannot quite fathom what goes through the minds of the South African brains trust as the Springboks great discussed their recent tactical innovations.

The Boks hammered Italy 45-0 at the weekend to clinch a 2-0 series victory, but much of the post-match discussion has centred on their unique moves.

That included purposefully infringing from the kick-off in order to scrum, and lifting a team-mate in the air lineout-style to set up a maul

It has been widely debated around the world, and while appearing on the New Zealand show Scotty and Izzy with Scotty Stevenson and former All Black Israel Dagg, Steyn was asked for his view.

‘It keeps it quite interesting’

However, like many others, the 38-year-old was befuddled by what went on and quipped: “I don’t know why you’re asking me, I don’t have an idea! There are some funny tricks that you saw at the weekend. It keeps it quite interesting, though.”

There have been contrasting opinions on the Springboks’ approach, with many praising the inventiveness and others questioning the legality of those innovations.

Dagg is very much on the side of the former, saying: “I love it. I don’t know what it is, but it’s different. If there’s any sort of grey area or anything that’s not quite understood in rugby, Rassie will figure it out and test the boundaries.

“For me, I’m a fan of it, but for you and the South Africans, is this to be expected for Rassie? Every single week, you never know who’s going to play, you never know what style South Africa are going to bring

“Is this Rassie or is this Tony Brown?”

Steyn then responded and joked: “It’s maybe both of them. How much wine do you think they take before they get to a place where they think out all these moves?”

Erasmus’ tactical tweaks very much display the Springboks head coach’s forward-thinking approach to the game.

It has helped South Africa to back-to-back world titles, and they are looking for three in a row in Australia in 2027.

Springboks’ development and game plan

“What they’ve really done well over the last couple of years is get the youth in and give people playing time,” Steyn said.

“If you look at the squad, they can pick anybody in that squad, and the guys perform and play well. They put their bodies on the line.

“It’s the hard work that’s been done over the last couple of years that’s really paying off at the moment.”

The 2024 version of the Springboks was different to the side that won the World Cup in both 2019 and 2023, with them developing a more expansive style.

Steyn was still part of the squad when Erasmus took over, and he has seen the evolution of the national team over the past few years.

“It started when Rassie took over. He sorted out the fundamentals firstly. I was still there, so we used to box-kick and tackle, and the pressure game was there. I think they built from that,” he added.

“They get coaches in to change things up a bit, especially on attack, like Tony’s in now. He’s been doing really well

“It’s different voices, it keeps the players quite interested. There are new plans all the time, so you never get bored. I think that’s the amazing thing they’ve got going at the moment.”