Springbok coach Rassie Erasmu is not messing around when it comes to veteran Boks.
There was a time when Rassie Erasmus deliberately eased the intensity of Springbok training to ensure his experienced players reached Test matches fresh, but those days are long gone.
Ahead of Saturday's Nations Championship clash against Wales at Kings Park (5.40pm kick-off) the Springbok coach offered a revealing insight into one of the defining philosophies behind the world champions' sustained success – creating a training environment so demanding that age, reputation and experience matter far less than performance.
Erasmus admitted that when he first took charge in 2018, preserving his senior players was often a priority.
"I've been part of coaching teams where you slow down the pace of the training sessions so the older guys can be available on Saturday," he said. "But then you've got a great team on paper, but the training session intensity wasn't great."
