Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus says he has no issue with the significant number of South Africans who continue to support the All Blacks during the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour.
During the apartheid era, many disenfranchised South Africans backed the multi-racial All Blacks teams when they toured the country. While some have since switched their allegiance to the transformed Springbok team under Erasmus, many others have remained loyal to New Zealand.
That was evident when the All Blacks played the Stormers in Cape Town in the opening match of their tour on August 7. Tension flared during the team's initial public arrival and matches in Cape Town when sections of local All Blacks supporters explicitly booed the Springboks, jeered local officials, and sat out or drowned out moments meant for the host nation.
For many modern Springbok fans, seeing South Africans actively booing the team of Siya Kolisi, a squad that has become a symbol of unity and transformation, felt like an unnecessary and unpleasant step too far.
Yet, when speaking at a media conference in Johannesburg on Monday, Erasmus chose to address the broader context with restraint and perspective.
“When I was growing up, I watched the (rebel) New Zealand Cavaliers series in 1986, and before that the 1981 tour to New Zealand, where a plane dropped flour bombs on the players at Eden Park,” Erasmus said.
“My heroes were also All Blacks such as Murray Mexted and Zinzan Brooke. Danie Gerber was also my hero, but I wanted to play like Mexted, and also like Rob Louw.”
Erasmus said there was nothing unusual about South Africans supporting teams other than the Springboks.
“If you look at our coaching staff, some guys support Liverpool, others support Manchester United,” he said. “We should allow that, as long as the support of a team doesn’t become ugly and things don’t get personal between people.”
Erasmus said he understood that there were political reasons behind some South Africans’ support for the All Blacks, while others simply admired the way New Zealand played.
“For us, it is spicing things up,” he said. “If we look at what happened in Cape Town, they had massive support, but it has been like that since I grew up, since I played my first Test match against them and our last Test match against them (as coach).
“The other side of it is that we did not have as much support in South Africa a few years ago. We have grown from five or six million to 16 million avid supporters. So we have also grown.”
Erasmus believes Saturday’s mouthwatering first Test between the traditional rivals is ultimately good for rugby.
“Games like this make people want to watch rugby more. Because who knows who is going to win on Saturday? Nobody can tell.”
“So we have no problem with people supporting the All Blacks. If we can’t win them over with the way we play, the way we carry ourselves as a team and put our country first… “
“Maybe those fans just like the way the All Blacks play. And maybe they look back in history and see what New Zealand meant to them or their fathers.
“Who are we to tell them they can’t support the All Blacks?”