Steven Kitshoff and Trevor Nyakane discuss Rassie Erasmus' technical approach to analyses

Kitshoff and Nyakane were part of South Africa's triumphant campaigns during the most recent World Cups - in Japan in 2019 and France in 2023.

Under Erasmus' guidance, the Springboks have become the dominant force in international rugby in recent years and apart from those back-to-back victories at the global showpiece, he guided them to a 2-1 series victory over the British & Irish Lions in South Africa in 2021, and they were also crowned Rugby Championship winners in 2024 and 2025.

Both Kitshoff and Nyakane have been at the forefront of the Springboks' forward efforts since Erasmus took charge of the Boks in 2018 although the former was forced to retire last year due to a serious neck injury, while the latter is currently sidelined due to a ruptured Achilles tendon.

While appearing on the For The Love Of Rugby podcast, former England scrum-half Ben Youngs asked the duo what Erasmus' approach was like with regards to watching his opponents during the recent Six Nations and both Kitshoff and Nyakane revealed that they expected the Boks' boss to be studying those teams albeit not in an intense manner.

"It would be a deep dive for him. I think he is very analytical," said Kitshoff. "So, he would be watching it like, how do we prep for these guys coming in a couple of months. So, that would be his style.

"And I think there would be messages back and forth with Felix (Jones) and with Stokke (Mzwandile Stick) and with all the other guys. And Daan (Human) would be looking at the scrums and looking at the boys' shape and what the challenges will be. So no, they would go flat out.

"I think they're watching, definitely with a beer in hand, like they're not animals, but they're not robots."

Nyakane echoed those sentiments and revealed that although Erasmus would be in a relaxed mood, he believes he was definitely analysing those encounters.

"They're watching but they're analysing. That's what they do. You will see him (Erasmus) dancing maybe on a video or so, but for sure he was analysing the games," he said.

"I think at times when you're within that team, you also start to learn like, you just don't watch a game. You try and pick up a couple of things.

"And because sometimes you get into camp and he asks you, 'What do you think of that game?' And meanwhile, he's actually analysed it inside out.

"It's always great to at least know something or a thing or two, maybe just to impress."