Rugby

Who Really is the Springboks’ Most Successful Coach?

Who is the Boks’ best coach?

Published

1 year ago

November 8, 2023

The debate of who is or was the best coach of the Springboks is something that will likely rage on forever. Following the recent 2023 Rugby World Cup win by South Africa, breaking down which coaches have achieved the most during their tenure is worth revisiting.

The problem with win ratios

When it comes to success-rate of coaches, one tends to simply look at the win percentage, but of course, any keen-eyed rugby watcher knows there are a lot of other factors at play: World Cup victories, timelines, playing better opposition, time-in-charge, state of the team prior to getting the job — and the list goes on. So, if a Springbok coach was in charge for 2 matches and won both, he has a 100% win ratio, but that doesn’t really tell the whole story, does it?

Therefore a less reductive and more encompassing approach needs to be taken into account.

Giving coaches a score

Of course, results are the goal at the end of the day, but tournament victories are crucial too. We’ve therefore taken into account the classic Super Rugby/World Cup score system of attributing 4 points for a win and 2 points for a draw during a coach’s reign.

Here are the stats (via SA Rugby Stats):

Name	Years as Coach	Tests Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win%	Score*
Jassie (Jacques Nienaber + Rassie Erasmus)	2018-	63	42	1	20	67%	170
Jack White	2004-2007	54	36	1	17	66%	146
Heyneke Meyer	2015	48	32	2	14	66%	131
Peter de Villiers	2008-2011	48	30	0	18	62%	121
Nick Mallett	1997-2000	38	27	0	11	71%	109
Jacques Nienaber	2020-	37	25	0	12	68%	101
Rassie Erasmus	2018-2019	26	17	1	8	65%	70
Danie Craven	1949-1956	23	17	0	6	73%	69
Kitch Christie	1994-1995	14	14	0	0	100%	57
Johan Claassen	1964,1968,1970-72,1974	21	13	3	6	62%	56
Nelie Smith	1980-1981	15	12	0	3	80%	49
Rudolf Straeuli	2003-2003	23	12	0	11	52%	49
Allister Coetzee	2016-2017	25	11	2	12	44%	47
Cecil Moss	1982-1989	12	10	0	2	83%	41
Ian Kirkpatrick	1967,1974-1977	12	9	2	2	75%	39
Harry Viljoen	2000-2001	15	8	1	7	53%	34
Andre Markgraaff	1996	13	8	0	5	61%	33
Hennie Muller	1960-1963	16	7	1	8	44%	30
Boy Louw	1960-1965	9	6	1	2	67%	26
Avril Malan	1969-1970	8	4	2	2	50%	19
Ian MacIntosh	1993-1994	12	4	2	6	33%	19
Izak van Heerden	1962	4	3	0	1	75%	13
John Williams	1992	5	1	4	0	20%	9
Felix du Plessis	1964	1	1	0	0	100%	5
Carel du Plessis	1997	8	0	3	5	37%	4
Basil Kenyon	1958	2	0	1	1	0%	2

Outcome

It’s not surprising that Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber’s time in charge of the Springboks as an ambiguous coaching duo (of sorts) has been the most successful. They have managed to remain the key coaching staff for 6 years, and have played the most amount of Tests during this period (doing two World Cup campaigns).

The sheer amount of Test should usually mean there are more losses, but while they have lost more matches than some other coaches, they’ve won more given the volume ratio, earning them some considerable points.

Additionally, taking into account the two World Cup victories, it’s hard to dispute how successful the Springboks have been during their combined tenure.