Rassie Erasmus hits back at claims Springboks are ‘lucky’ to be the world’s best

SA Rugby director of rugby Rassie Erasmus is not losing sleep over claims his side are undeserving of their place as the top team in the world.

Their status as the world’s best was questioned in a spicy opinion piece published on Rugby Pass on Monday.

“The notion that the Springboks are the world’s best is nothing more than an illusion at this point,” wrote the publication’s Ben Smith.

He claimed the Springboks’ World Cup victory was “well-deserved, albeit aided by fortune”, but the team had “ducked” and “hidden” from competition since.

The comments sparked a fierce debate on social media, and Erasmus took to Twitter to respond to the claims.

“This always made sense to me: A lion doesn’t concern himself with the opinion of a sheep,” he wrote.

SA Rugby announced in October last year that the Springboks would not participate in the Rugby Championship due to ongoing complications related to the Covid-19 pandemic and concerns about seriously jeopardising player welfare.

The Springboks will play their first Test matches since lifting the World Cup two years ago when they host Georgia for two Tests in July as a warm-up for the British & Irish Lions series.

“Head coach Jacques Nienaber, his coaching staff and management have been working around the clock to get the team as well prepared as possible. The Georgia series is a much-needed opportunity after such a long and unforeseen interruption due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Erasmus said on Monday.