Rassie Erasmus, the architect of the Springboks’ consecutive Rugby World Cup triumphs, has spoken out for the first time since his unexpected accident and hospitalization.
Erasmus has expressed his support for new rugby rules designed to enhance safety at the school and club levels in South Africa.
The revised amateur rugby laws focus on reducing the maximum legal tackle height and banning certain risky ball-carrying actions and techniques.
While these changes do not apply at the senior professional level, Rassie Erasmus, the Director of Rugby at SA Rugby, noted that the Springbok coaching team recognized the importance of lowering tackle height to win the tournament.
“Lower tackles can be taught, so there’s no excuse not to coach and practice the correct technique,” he stated.
Accordingly, they integrated this approach into their conditioning and technical preparations for the tournament. Erasmus emphasized that mere tackle-bag training is insufficient, advocating for practice with moving bodies in controlled, dynamic, and game-like situations.
Erasmus stressed the need for players to be conditioned to keep their heads up and quickly lower their height when tackling.
“Maintaining lower tackles throughout a match requires fitness, so appropriate conditioning is vital,” he added.
He explained that upright tackles are impractical under these new laws, necessitating changes in coaching methods. Wrap tackles, which involve more upright contact, increase the risk of head contact and concussions.
“Like it or not, global laws regarding tackle height will change eventually, and we need to be proactive rather than playing catch-up,” Erasmus concluded.
A scientific study of South African rugby union tackle-related catastrophic injuries revealed that low-positioned ball carriers entering tackles in a bent-forward position increase the risk of severe head, neck, and spine injuries for both tacklers and ball carriers. Therefore, SA Rugby has adapted the laws to limit the ways in which a ball carrier can enter into contact.
