The Proteas need to take a couple of pages out of Rassie Erasmus and the Springboks’ playbook, writes Alasdair Fraser.

It’s an incredible time to be a South African.

The Springboks are the world champions for the third time in just their seventh World Cup appearance. Three finals, three wins over three different continents. This is right up there with 1995 – a moment in our history I will never forget.

It’s a phenomenal achievement, given their dire circumstances after the lows of 2016 and 2017. Many believed it was the beginning of the end for the Springboks and that perhaps they would fade into obscurity like the formidable West Indies teams of the 1970s and ‘80s.

But we’ve seen this is not the case and that this great country is blessed with unbelievable talent – many of which have not yet been discovered or nurtured. The Springboks didn’t even have a headline sponsor.

Give South Africans credit. We tend to perform miracles when the chips are down, and our backs are against the wall. And when absolutely no one has any ounce of hope in us, the fire starts burning.

They say necessity is the mother of invention but in a South African context adversity seems to be the only fuel that burns our fire.

The memes coming out have been hilarious. “Hello Rassie, you know anything about cricket?” has done the rounds. I’m sure it prompted AB de Villiers to weigh in with a suggestion that we need a “Rassie”. But it’s not that simple.

Great teams come in cycles. In the history of sport, not one team has held complete dominance over their competitors over a sustained period. The Proteas couldn’t buy a win after the 1994 series against England. They even lost a Test to New Zealand at the Wanderers later that year. 

In 2006 we were humbled by Sri Lanka after they scored a world record 900-plus total. The core of that same team went on to beat England and Australia in a Test series away just two years later.

South African cricket has some fine talent. The sad thing is that talent seems to be eyeing out greener pastures. We saw that with the Springboks. Luckily SA Rugby allowed overseas-based players to don the green and gold. It plugged the inexperience gap and allowed Rassie to implement his plan. You just can’t buy experience.

Can you imagine how the Proteas would have fared in the coming months with Duanne Oliveir, Kyle Abbott, Rilee Rossouw and Simon Harmer? The experience alone would have been invaluable to bridge the next generation of players. Even the domestic scene would have had some extra punch.

The current coaching set-up is still very vague. I feel sorry for Enoch Nkwe. The whole situation reminds me of when Allister Coetzee was the Bok coach. There seems to be a lack of vision and planning and I don’t believe that is Enoch’s fault. 

It appears that no one is taking the reins and full responsibility of what is needed to coach one of the powerhouses of international cricket. We don’t have a full-time contracted coach. It’s as if we are operating on a pay-as-you-go cellphone contract. 

We don’t need “Rassie”. We need a plan. It’s not simple and it’s going to take time. One of the main tenants of Rassie’s success has been the ability to be involved in SA Rugby from his playing days in 1994 to 2006 to becoming a player/coach and then Director of Rugby at the Stormers/WP.

Rassie stayed in the system for many years. He has an intimate knowledge of rugby in this country. We have former players living in this country who have the same intellectual property in a cricket context. It can be done, but there must be a buy-in from all stakeholders.

There needs to be a collective plan and a long-term coaching contract put into place. We can’t have a coach of a national team in a transitional phase without the backing of his superiors. Rassie unpacked his plan to his employers with great detail and they backed him. We need to see this in our cricket from top to bottom.

The main stakeholders (including the fans) need to be involved and educated about what the plan is so that we can all do our bit and help the Proteas become great again.

Photo: Springboks/Twitter