Rassie Erasmus book on the way: 'Very few people know the real me'

Springbok 2019 World Cup-winning coach Rassie Erasmus is set to release a memoir on his life and rugby career, both playing and coaching, later this year.

Erasmus, now the SA Rugby director of rugby, collaborated with renowned writer, broadcaster and raconteur David O'Sullivan to pen the book called Rassie: Stories of Life and Rugby that's expected to be released in July/August.

Johan "Rassie" Erasmus was born in Despatch, outside Gqeberha, in the Eastern Cape, where he grew up and learnt his rugby before moving to the Free State Cheetahs, where he became a prominent flanker.

He played for the Cheetahs and Super 12 side, the Cats, in an exceptional career that included seven tries in 36 Springbok Tests before injury curtailed his career.

Erasmus quickly picked up coaching and guided the Cheetahs to their first Currie Cup trophy since 1976, when they beat the Blue Bulls at Loftus in 2005.

His coaching tenure has been infamous for his weird and whacky coaching methods, including using lights to indicate game plays and sitting on top of the stadium roof on match day.

He is widely considered a rugby genius, something his former Springbok coach Nick Mallett picked up in the late 1990s when Erasmus was transfixed with data analysis during a time when rugby players just ran onto the field and drank beer afterwards.

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Erasmus has never been shy to court controversy, as seen recently when he received a lengthy stadium ban by World Rugby following his highly-critical and public 62-minute video during the 2021 British & Irish Lions series.

"My rugby life, as player and coach, has always been in the public eye," said Erasmus.

"My passion for