New Zealanders don’t know quite what to make of Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus, other than they know he’s a kooky genius, never shy of trying a wacky idea or concocting something random.
He flirts with being a Rasputin-like figure, having employed a traffic-light signalling system at the last World Cup to communicate with his players during matches and having cooked up quirky plays such as having a lineout in the middle of the field and deliberately being in front of the ball at kick-off to instigate a scrum.
There’s a yet darker part of him – the one that uses social media to highlight refereeing mistakes and perceived injustices against the Springboks – that appeals to the marginalised conspiracy theorists who roam cyberspace ready to believe the moon is made of cheese so of course the Americans never landed on it.
But the core part of Erasmus is a deep-thinking, innovative, clever coach who has had strategic masterstrokes such as the 7-1 bench split and the self-styled bomb squad.
He’s made the Springboks a symbol of hope in a country ravaged by economic chaos, infrastructure failures and social unrest.
So many of Erasmus’ predecessors struggled with enforced transformation requirements, but he’s effortlessly melded his team from the most diverse backgrounds, and he’s effectively increased the Springboks’ selection pool from 4.5 million to 63 million.
What he’s done specifically to the All Blacks is beat them the past four times they have met and reposition the Springboks as the dominant partner in their long-running rivalry and potentially as the more powerful global rugby brand.
And in doing so, Erasmus has got inside Kiwis’ heads. He’s the veritable bogeyman, and no doubt he induces surges of mental anguish within his All Blacks peer Scott Robertson, who hasn’t yet found a way to outsmart his rival.
Erasmus is chipping away at the nation’s psyche and the All Blacks’ self-belief. He’s the first international coach in a long, long time – maybe ever – to have come to New Zealand more in expectation than hope.
New Zealand, it seems, doesn’t hold any demons over him. But there is one Kiwi ghost haunting him. One unlikely figure keeps him awake at night, slowly tormenting him.
The absurdity of it is almost too much to comprehend: that this brilliant and enigmatic head coach, who appears to have the All Blacks in his pocket, has spent the past four years embroiled in a public Twitter (now X) war with a little-known Kiwi journalist.
It’s the most ridiculous story in world rugby – Erasmus, double World Cup winner and national hero, slowly following the path of King Lear into madness because due homage has not been paid to his record.
The role of Cordelia in this rugby adaptation is being played by Ben Smith, the New Zealand editor of RugbyPass – the global content site owned by World Rugby – who has steadfastly refused to accept the widely held view in South Africa that having won back-to-back World Cups, the Springboks are worthy of having greatness bestowed upon them.
Smith’s contention has been that the Boks were worthy World Cup winners in 2019 and 2023, but can’t use those two achievements alone to claim parity with the great All Blacks era that ran between late 2009 and 2019.
These sorts of subjective debates are 10-a-penny on the internet – grist for the social-media mill - but somehow Smith’s reasoned analysis set a fire burning within Erasmus.
Incredibly, Smith, who started his professional life in the fields of banking and auditing before switching to journalism eight years ago, has become the bete noire of one of the game’s most successful and highest-profile international coaches.
Erasmus has gender-shamed Smith, been personally abusive, fallen into a compulsive pattern of blocking and unblocking him on social media while enticing his fellow South Africans to do the same, and he has even started a conspiracy that the Kiwi is not a real person and doesn’t exist.
All Blacks coaches over the years have had certain journalists they didn’t much like or respect, but the rabid, relentless, personal and public nature of Erasmus’ spat with Smith is unprecedented.
The story of how Smith burrowed so deeply under Erasmus’ skin is made yet more fascinating for having such an innocuous origin.
Smith, who does a brilliant line of in-depth game analysis, was perplexed by what he saw as an overreaction to South Africa’s 2019 win, in that he felt it became a launchpad to elevate the Boks beyond the true capacity of their achievements.
“In 2020, the narrative and rhetoric around the Boks had grown to crazy levels,” Smith says. “It was more propelled by the media and the fans – but the way they were talking about the Boks, it was as if they had just completed what the All Blacks had done between 2010 and 2019.
“People were putting them in that kind of category and it just got to obscene levels to the point where I penned a rebuttal piece where I highlighted their record in Australia and that their World Cup title came on the back of beating England, Wales, Italy and Japan, which is not even half a Six Nations.
“Before that, in 2018, they finished with a 50% record and in 2019, the Rugby Championship was truncated, so they won two out of three and you couldn’t really discern much from that.
“So, I wrote that they hadn’t done anything yet.”
About the same time as Smith’s piece was published, Erasmus was beginning his venture into social media. The significance of that is important, because being new to the chaotic nature of social media, Erasmus didn’t understand how quickly things can get out of control and run in an unintended or unforeseen direction.
“Prior to the World Cup, Rassie had not been on social media, but after it, he was, and he was interested in being on there to earn a bit of praise or whatever.
“He responded to the piece on Twitter and made the remark that lions don’t care about sheep. That was quite funny because it did show that he cared. Otherwise, why bother?
“It was obvious that I had really touched a nerve. When they win, it is such a euphoric time for the country, and they get swept up in that. I think at that time he believed they were this thing, and that piece I wrote obviously hit the ego a bit.”
The furore blew over, mostly because there was no basis to sustain it and partly because the Boks didn’t play a single test in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
When they returned to action in 2021, they won a forgettable series against the British & Irish Lions after losing the first test – following which Erasmus released an hour-long video critiquing the performance of referee Nic Berry – and then came to Australia, where they lost both tests against the Wallabies. Next came a third consecutive loss, when the All Blacks beat them in Townsville in what was the 100th meeting between the two nations.
“At that point, he was getting a lot of blowback and that’s when I reminded him [on Twitter] of my piece [the year before],” Smith says.
The following week, the All Blacks were seconds away from winning again, but conceded a penalty after the hooter to lose 31-29, and Erasmus decided that was the right time to respond to Smith.
“There was just a little bit of back and forth over that time. In the initial period around 2021 it was light-hearted and good-natured with me,” Smith recalls. “He shared a Ryan Reynolds meme with him laughing.”
The exchanges may have been good-natured in 2021, but they had been noted and enjoyed by the perennially voyeuristic Twitter community and, as per the rules of this world, the relationship had to be framed as adversarial and confrontational.
Smith was labelled a troll, and like primary school children in the playground, he and Erasmus were cast as aggressor and defender and egged into continuing their fight as if they were in a pantomime.
Smith may have played to the theatrical nature the Twittersphere demanded and could obviously see the opportunities that may arise from building a higher profile, but he maintains that the driving force of his editorial stance and social media posts has been the irrefutable statistics produced by the Boks under Erasmus, which don’t stand comparison with the best All Blacks team or justify the hyperbole.
The All Blacks, despite the endless criticism directed at head coach Ian Foster, won the Rugby Championship in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
“Through that whole time their record against Ireland, France, New Zealand and the other big nations is that they only won about 30%,” Smith says.
“From 2020 to 2023, before the World Cup, South Africa didn’t win anything or do anything of note.
“From the back half of 2009 to 2010, the All Blacks did everything before they won in 2011. They won that World Cup with everything else in the cabinet, and then from 2012 to 2015 they only lost three times, and so I would say there is a difference.”
These were points Smith would make in long-form analysis pieces for RugbyPass and on Twitter throughout 2022 and 2023. Everything attached to his name incensed South Africans, who felt he was deliberately goading them.
Obviously, Erasmus felt the same way, because a few days before the Springboks’ semifinal against England at the 2023 World Cup, he tweeted: “Guys lets ignore her please! Block her and let her bask in peace!! Us Lions does not care about the opinion of a sheep[sic].”
When the Boks won the final, Erasmus unblocked Smith and the gloves were off, leading to this memorable exchange.
Smith wrote: “The back-to-back Boks are not, I repeat, are not, the greatest of all time. One cakewalk and one decent run where they got by on miraculous comebacks.
“Got a one-man advantage in the final and only just got over the line. Lots of heart, lots of guts, but deep down they know.”
Erasmus responded: “Ben, I don’t know if you are a real person, but surely you must stop embarrassing NZ with your tweets.
“Grow up man and just have a look if you still have balls (he or she) that will show and help you to go be bit more as man or a lady. You = NZ (not).”
Smith rounded it off by posting: “Director of Retweets, take the big win over the 14-man ABs and be quiet mate. Get off X/Twitter and go enjoy the celebrations.
“I don’t speak for New Zealand. Are you mad I don’t think this is the greatest rugby team?”
For Smith, there was as much disappointment as there was surprise that things had spiralled out of control.
Three years earlier he’d written what he thought was a fair, if maybe pointed assessment of where he felt the Boks stood in an historical context, and by late 2023, he’d become a hate figure in South Africa with Erasmus leading the charge.
It was utterly ridiculous to his mind that such a successful coach, with better things to focus on, was so invested in a Twitter scrap with a journalist from the other side of the world.
“In 2023, it was on a different level where he descended into toxic behaviour with name-calling and misgendering,” Smith says.
“It’s a great deflection strategy and he loves to get personal to detract from getting engaged in an argument ... The thing that was interesting to me was that he went on this public crusade, saying everyone block her, calling me her, and as soon as they won, he wanted to unblock me and come after me to gloat.
“When things are in his favour, he’ll go, and when they are not, he’ll hide behind the block button for safety.
“There is this sensitivity to the bloke. A lot of pride and ego, and when you deal in facts and history, he doesn’t like that. It is an uncomfortable thing for them.
“They like to have the Boks as this superhero that unites the country, and it is uncomfortable for them to confront some of the realities, particularly around their record outside of World Cups and down here in New Zealand.”
If history is anything to go by, then it’s probable that the feud will reignite should the Boks win at Eden Park, or indeed next week in Wellington.
And if hostilities do resume, Smith says: “I don’t have a problem with it. If he wants to do it, he can go for it. The spat with me is probably just because I am interested in writing about the Boks so I am more prominent than others.
“If you look at his history on social media, he is quite vocal. He will post incidents or clips about referees, and he just has this approach to social media in general that no other coach has.
“There is a large number of the South African fanbase on that platform. His original intention was probably to be more visible and connect with the fans, but if you understand Twitter and what it is like, it is just chaos so you can get dragged into things that you didn’t intend to get dragged into.
“He went there to connect with South Africans and would see other things coming from myself and get engaged with it, which is more about activating the reptile function of the brain ... than thinking through it.
“There is no doubt that he is consuming a lot of content. He shares a lot of stuff with South African fans and he shares a view that they hold, which is at odds with my view, and so when those two worlds collide, he is prepared to strike back.
“My opinion is that he would be better off not being on there. For him to punch down is never a good look. The golden rule is you punch up and not down, but they come from a different world I don’t understand. And that’s why they can’t understand me because I am giving them an outside view of the Boks.
“I am not caught up in the emotion or the euphoria so I don’t hold those same viewpoints as they do.”
Gregor Paul is a regular contributor to RugbyPass.