Victorious vision for a nation: Rassie Erasmus has redefined what leadership looks like

Person of the Year winner: An individual or group that has made the most significant and widespread positive contributions to the nation or the world as a whole.

Springbok mentor Rassie Erasmus has redefined not only what it means to be a “mere” sports coach, but also what empathetic, accountable leadership looks like. He has shown that success and toxicity, and success and exclusion, do not have to be the norms. The Bok coach has proven that success is not only defined in victories and titles, but also in empowerment, transparency and innovation. It’s for all these reasons and more that he has been chosen as the Daily Maverick Person of the Year for 2025.

Erasmus has probably done more for nation-building and making South Africans feel good about themselves and the country than any politician or entertainer in decades.

The Springboks ended the year as the No 1-ranked team for a third successive season, and they added to their growing cache of silverware with more accolades in 2025.

They won the Rugby Championship for a second successive season – the first time they’ve retained the southern hemisphere’s most prestigious crown.

While doing it, they retained the Freedom Cup – contested against the All Blacks – as well as the Nelson Mandela Challenge Plate, which is awarded for clashes between the Springboks and the Wallabies.

The Boks secured a record 43-10 win over New Zealand in Wellington, which was the All Blacks’ largest Test defeat yet.

Erasmus’s men also won all five of their November tour matches in Europe and Britain, ended a 13-year losing streak in Ireland, and finished the season with 12
victories in 14 Tests for an 86% winning ratio. They scored 81 Test tries in those 14 matches, or 5.8 per game, which was another record.

Malcolm Marx was named World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year and his teammates Ox Nché and Pieter-Steph du Toit were also on the four-man shortlist for the prestigious individual title.

Young flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu had a breakthrough year, highlighted by a Bok-record 37-point haul against Argentina in Durban.

In total, 49 players were used in 14 Tests, and the Boks grew their attacking game, evolving their style of play in wider areas while doubling down on their power play.

All this was achieved under Erasmus’s strong leadership, which demands high standards and accountability, but also welcomes innovation and input from others.

In short, Erasmus’s ego is not so fragile that he resists ideas and criticism from his high-quality team of assistant coaches. This is not to say he is without ego, just that he knows how to channel it positively.

And that sums up his style of leadership. Erasmus understands that, as the head coach, he is ultimately accountable, and he does not shy away from this responsibility.

But he doesn’t allow this burden, or the pressure of expectation on him and the team, to manifest as a dictator. All ideas are welcome and all voices heard at the appropriate time, but do not confuse that with weakness either.

Erasmus will always make the final call. It’s just that he’s comfortable and secure enough in his own ability and knowledge to allow experts he has assembled to be heard and seen.

The collective input of a group is far more powerful than the decisions of one person.

Vision

Perhaps Erasmus’s greatest trait is having a vision – for the Springboks as South Africa’s national rugby team, but also as nation-builders.

From his earliest days as Springbok coach in 2018, Erasmus understood that the Boks needed to be more than just a rugby team and, even more narrow than that, a rugby team that appeals to more than one sector of society.

The Springboks needed to be winners, but they also needed to be transformational.

He needed, and demanded, to tap into all South Africa’s rugby talent pools, from townships and dorpies to elite schools. Erasmus’s Boks reflect South African society and represent the people of the nation.

This required clarity and planning. The Boks of 2025 continued to fulfil Erasmus’s vision, enjoying their success, being accessible to average South Africans, setting high standards and achieving them, while always looking forward.

Part of being a visionary is letting past successes inform the future, but not letting them define it.

To stay at the top, Erasmus’s Boks continue to prepare for the future by evolving their style of play, recognising any red flags that might arise in their approach, weeding out complacency and arrogance, and staying grounded in hard work and preparation.

Erasmus has extended his contract to 2031, underlining that he is still energised and motivated by the job and wants to continue contributing to South Africa through high-performance excellence.

The Boks are a symbol of what is great about South Africa and what we can achieve with planning, vision and hard work.

And pulling it all together is the inspirational leadership of our Person of the Year – Rassie Erasmus. DM

Craig Ray is the sports editor of Daily Maverick.

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.