Ex-England Star Calls Erasmus “Naughty” And “Brutal”

Former England World Cup winner Lawrence Dallaglio described Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus as “naughty,” adding that the “sad reality is that no one in the world is challenging him.”

However, Dallaglio credited Erasmus for his innovative approach with the Springboks, having the caught media sting of using floodlights during their World Cup match against Scotland and Damian Willemse’s surprising decision to call for a scrum mark in his own half during the 2023 quarter-final against France.

“You’ve got to remember that the national sport here (England) is football, and we are obsessed, and rightly so,” Dallaglio said when asked by Roy Keane which was the “nastiest” country he had ever played in on the Stick To Football Podcast with Gary Neville, Jill Scott, Wayne Rooney, and Ian Wright.

“In New Zealand and South Africa, it’s rugby.”

When pressed by Keane to choose between the two, Dallaglio replied, “The South Africans are the biggest, the hardest people you’ve ever seen in your life. I was 20 (in 1994) when I toured South Africa. I got off the plane and I was like, ‘Hhh, I need a Red Bull.'”

However, Dallaglio did not play on that tour but made his Test debut in November 1995, replacing Tim Rodber against South Africa at Twickenham.

“I have never seen people so big – I mean the Dutch Africans,” he continued. “Because of Apartheid and how things have changed, if you had said to me, ‘In 30 years’ time, there will be a man of color captaining South Africa – Siya Kolisi – I would have said, ‘No way.'”

“What they have now is the physicality that South Africans are known for, and when you hear him (Kolisi) speak, he is so powerful in terms of his journey through South Africa, through the slums, whatever,” Dallaglio added.

“When I used to say I’m representing my country, I would be speaking to… there are 75 million people in England, but only 3 million people watch rugby,” he explained.

“So, when I’m representing my country, I’m representing those people, and it goes up to eight or nine million in big games. If you are South African and you are representing the country, the whole country is watching you. And that is a big pressure. If I could say to you Roy, ‘We are representing South Africans, and when we lose, go and explain to the nation why we lost.'”

Keane then interjected, “South Africa is brilliant, they are good, up there with the best,” a sentiment Dallaglio echoed.

“They are back-to-back World champions,” Dallaglio said. “They won each game (in the 2023 World Cup knockout stages) by each point – the quarter-final, semi-final, and the final.”

Keane again interjected, mentioning that South Africa has a brilliant coach, Erasmus, whom Keane knows well from his time at Munster Rugby in Ireland.

“He is a bit naughty,” Dallaglio agreed. “But no one challenges him.”

Keane asked, “Rassie pushes the boundaries,” to which Dallaglio replied, “Yes, he does. He hardly follows anyone on his X account, and he only follows the All Blacks. That is naughty; he’s quite provocative. He is also quite clever.”

“He is coming up with different things, but he is also brutal as a coach,” Dallaglio continued. “I think the fly-half (Manie Libbok) missed a kick in the World Cup, and he then went, ‘Off you come,’ and he brought on the player – Handre Pollard – who ended up staying in the team for the rest of the tournament. You have got to make the big calls.”

The topic likely still stings for Dallaglio, who was part of the England side that lost to South Africa in the 2007 Rugby World Cup final in France. It was Dallaglio’s 85th cap, tying him with Rory Underwood for second on England’s all-time most-capped players list. In his 85 caps for England, Dallaglio, whose father is Italian and whose mother is English, was part of the team that won the 2003 Rugby World Cup, defeating Australia in the final.