Rassie to stay with Stormers

It is no secret that the Eastern Cape franchise, bidding for inclusion in the Super 14 from 2011, is after Erasmus, who is highly rated within the coaching industry for his tactical brain. It is also understood that some overseas clubs have expressed an interest in acquiring his services.

However, Erasmus has a three year contract with WP, and while like all coaches he has to keep his options open, he is committed to following through with what he started when he took over at the start of last year.

“I am only a couple of months into my second season with WP. We have lost a few close games, and I am unhappy about that, because I know we should be doing a lot better and we have not progressed as I would have liked, but that does not mean I am going to bail out,” said Erasmus from the Stormers team hotel in Wellington.

“There are a lot of things that contribute to a team not winning. It is not just with the coaching, and not just with the players. As with all contracts, there will be an evaluation after the Super 14, not just of me, but of all aspects of the Stormers and where the Stormers are going. Obviously if it is decided that I am not up to taking the Stormers to the top, then I will have to step aside.

“But if that is the case, I would be surprised. That is not the impression I am getting from WP officials. It has been a tough time, we are all learning a lot about each other, we are learning about which players are up to it, which are not up to it. We are learning what works with this group of players, and what doesn’t.”

Top sources within WP rugby have confirmed that while there is concern at the Stormers’ performances this season, they remain committed to Erasmus, who took the Stormers to within one log point of Super 14 semi-final qualification in his first season. There is also understandable reluctance to change another coach – something that WP have done virtually every 18 months since 1996.

While the Stormers have lost six of their eight games, all of their defeats have been close calls, and the team has been ravaged by injury over the past few weeks. Some have criticised Erasmus for not creating enough depth, but he has only been in the job for 18 months – and this means he inherited a squad.

“It would be madness to dispense with Rassie now as he has yet to work with a squad that he has fully contracted himself,” said a high ranking source.

There are understood to be several players on WP contracts currently being paid top money who Erasmus does not rate and is not using. Once those players come off contract later in the year he will have more money to work with to buy the quality of player he wants.

The concern within the Stormers hierarchy at the moment seems directed more towards the possibility of Erasmus deciding that he has had enough, and it is around this uncertainty that the name of Jake White has been thrown into the hat as a possible replacement.

It would be surprising were Erasmus to move to the Spears as his reason for coming to Cape Town from Bloemfontein, where he coached the Cheetahs to Currie Cup success in his first season in charge, was that he wanted to coach a team that could win the Super 14. At the moment the Spears are not guaranteed Super 14 status, and he has said in the past he does not want to coach at Currie Cup level.

However, Erasmus, like a stream of WP and Stormers coaches before him, may be having difficulty in adjusting to the machinations of the WP Board, so it is understandable that he says he needs to keep his options open.

“I do have to consider my options. I would be stupid if I didn’t. Every coach has to do that, just like every player has to. Every year you hear about players who are talking to other provinces, but in the end they stay. You need to keep your options open otherwise you get caught out if the province you are contracted to decides it doesn’t want you.”