Director of Springbok rugby Rassie Erasmus might be new to social media, but he’s working out its strengths and weaknesses. His Twitter following on @RassieRugby has already attracted 23,400 followers since he opened the account in February. Quickly he realised that Twitter has restrictions on the length of video that can be posted. Fed up with cutting clips to 140 seconds, he decided to open an Instagram account which allowed him more flexibility with his video messages. That account has attracted over 2,600 followers in less than 24 hours. Not only is Erasmus exploring social media as a way of getting his message across, but he’s also involved in SA Rugby’s podcast series. In the world of lockdown, where media conferences are drastically limited, the coach has realised that Twitter, Instagram and podcasts are the quickest, easiest way to get through to the rugby public. – David O’Sullivan
From SA Rugby
(SA Rugby) – Rassie Erasmus, Director of Rugby at SA Rugby, says the Springboks are working as hard as ever – despite the lockdown – to build on the Rugby World Cup victory of last year, in SA Rugby’s new podcast series.
Erasmus outlines what he and the team are doing behind the scenes for listeners as well as reflecting on that memorable day on the six-month anniversary of the Springboks’ 32-12 Rugby World Cup final victory over England in Japan.
Apart from talking about the Boks’ planning for 2020, the roles of the Springbok coaches, plans across SA Rugby’s national teams and Elite Player Development programmes, Erasmus also lifts the lid on spending his lockdown surrounded by women, and he reveals the name of a former team-mate he would love to have coached.
“From our side, we are really working so hard, and I want to guarantee our supporters, as soon as the Springboks are back on the field, we will make you proud, like we did last year,” said Erasmus.
“As we said last year, if we work hard and play well, and our fans keep on supporting us and the media reports well, we really are stronger together. And nothing should change because of this virus.”
More podcasts are being planned for the coming weeks until the end of the local season, with news, interviews and more from the Springboks, Junior Boks, Blitzboks, the national women’s teams and local competitions.
Source: https://springboks.rugby/en/articles/2020/05/02/Podcast-Boks-will-make-SA-proud-again
