“He’s a Very Dishonest Person”: Former All Blacks Coach Laurie Mains Slams Rassie Erasmus
- Former All Blacks coach Laurie Mains has reignited his feud with Rassie Erasmus, accusing the Springboks boss of being dishonest during a recent podcast
- Erasmus revisited their troubled relationship in his 2023 autobiography, saying clashes with Mains taught him lessons about entitlement
- Training ground tensions and authority battles were at the heart of their fallout during the Cats’ 2000–2001 seasons
Don't miss out! Join Briefly News Sports channel on WhatsApp now!
Former Golden Lions and Cats coach Laurie Mains has levelled serious allegations against Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus, labelling him “a very dishonest person.”
Mains made the claims during a recent podcast interview, reviving a long-standing feud that dates back more than two decades.
Source: Getty Images
Erasmus, who is currently in talks with SA Rugby over extending his contract beyond next year’s World Cup, has been part of the Springbok setup since 2018. Their conflict stems from their time together at the Cats during the 2000 and 2001 Super Rugby seasons, when Mains was coach and Erasmus served as captain.
Erasmus’ version of events
In his autobiography released in 2023, Erasmus reflected on his troubled relationship with Mains. He said their fallout was rooted in how Mains managed the players and the team environment as a whole.
Source: Getty Images
According to Erasmus, Mains took issue with his body language during training, interpreting it as a challenge to his authority, something Erasmus dismissed as jealousy.
He revealed that during a tour of New Zealand and Australia, the conflict grew so severe that he considered leaving the camp and returning home, with several black players willing to join him. Erasmus told Volksblad at the time that the atmosphere under Mains had become intolerable.
Source: Getty Images
In his book, Erasmus acknowledged that both men had made mistakes but stressed that he had learned valuable lessons. He vowed never to allow players to show the kind of entitlement he once did when playing well and emphasised the importance of clear communication to resolve grievances before they escalated and disrupted the team.
Source: Getty Images
Mains hits back at Erasmus
Mains has strongly rejected Erasmus’ portrayal of events. He claimed that Erasmus had even received treatment for depression during that period and accused him of trying to derail the Cats by introducing his own game plan.
“He’s a very dishonest person, and I’m not going to get into it now, but he had a lot of personal failings in his social life and that sort of thing,” Mains said.
He maintained that their conflict had nothing to do with rugby tactics but stemmed from Erasmus’s reluctance to train. While Erasmus may have kept himself fit, Mains argued that allowing the entire squad to adopt the same attitude would have prevented them from winning matches.
Watch the full interview below:
He added that South African players were physically imposing but often required extra conditioning to reach peak performance.
When asked if he was bothered by Erasmus’ criticism in the book, Mains admitted that the feud still lingered and could not resist taking fresh digs at the Springboks coach.
Despite his strained relationship with Erasmus, Mains has enjoyed a lasting bond with another South African rugby figure, former Springbok and current Bulls head coach, Johan Ackermann.
Ackermann has a mentor-mentee relationship with Mains in rugby. The former All Blacks coach coached Ackermann as a player in the early 2000s and tipped him to become a promising coaching prospect, a prediction that has since come true.
In an interview on the Lekker Rugby podcast, Ackermann shared how advice from Laurie Mains shaped his philosophy as a coach.
Ackermann's revelation below;
Heyneke Meyer in talks for return to SA rugby
Briefly News previously reported that Former Springboks head coach Heyneke Meyer could be on the verge of a coaching comeback in South Africa, with negotiations reportedly at an advanced stage.
The move would see the 57-year-old reconnect with familiar territory, a union that shaped the early part of his provincial career.
Source: Briefly News
