Springbok captain Siya Kolisi admitted he was ‘angry’ and dealing with self doubt after a stern talking to from Rassie Erasmus.
The Springboks’ Chasing the Sun 2 documentary has released three out of its five episodes to date, and Rassie Erasmus – who is one of the producers – features prominently throughout.
After the Springboks’ defeat to Ireland in the pool stages, Erasmus’s furious and savage side is also sharply exposed. The coach evidently felt that the squad had let complacency and even arrogance to creep into their performance.
He said about episode two, “There wasn’t enough pain on the players’ faces.” “Not enough regret was expressed. Their expressions of “hell, we f**ked this up” were insufficient.
In the final scene of the second episode, Erasmus unleashes a verbal barrage in front of deadly quiet players during what was described as “reality check Monday” after the defeat.
The latest episode further highlights how he threatened to drop several first-choice players for the quarter-final, which included ‘big dogs’ Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth and Duane Vermeulen.
RASSIE ERASMUS WAS WILLING TO SHAKE THINGS UP WITH THE SPRINGBOKS’ TEAM SELECTION
In one revealing clip, Erasmus tells Bongi Mbonambi to get ready to take on more leadership responsibilities, while notably omitting big names when highlighting which players could be confident of featuring in the quarter-finals.
“I feel there’s a few egos. I feel that there are a few guys who feel they are more important here,” Erasmus said.
“Your head is getting bigger than your ability. That is always a problem. Bongi [Mbonambi], Frans [Malherbe], Damian [de Allende], Jesse [Kriel], Cheslin [Kolbe], Kurt-Lee [Arendse] and RG [Snyman], you can start thinking about the quarter-final.”
Ultimately, Erasmus highlighted a view that key leaders such as Kolisi, Etzebeth and Vermeulen were not aligned – and negatively affecting the team through a difference of opinion.
“I couldn’t have these three big dogs not being able to patrol together,” Erasmus said, while it’s then revealed that he left the trio of World Cup winners in a room together in order to sort out the issues.
HONESTY AND INTROSPECTION
It was during this time that Kolisi also admitted he began to question his position.
“I was angry, and I was asking myself a lot of questions. My heart dropped, ” Kolisi said.
“S**t, I asked myself if I was arrogant? Am I too big for the team? Is that how the guys see me? Is that how coach Rassie sees me?
“Whatever that was I was doing wrong, I need to come right and very quickly, or it’s going to be too late.”
In the end, the Springboks produced a rousing performance in their final pool game against Tonga, with the likes of Kolisi, Etzebeth and Vermeulen doing enough to earn selection as the team headed into the playoff stage.
