He has sung the praises of all of those around him, but ultimately Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus deserves the credit for guiding the national team to World Cup glory in Japan.
Erasmus, who won the international Coach of the Year award on Sunday, took charge of the Boks back in 2018.
After Allister Coetzee’s last game as head coach in 2017, the Springboks were ranked sixth in the world, miles behind first-placed New Zealand.
The big defeats to the Kiwis highlighted the gap between the two teams - 57-15 on home soil in Durban in 2016 and then 57-0 in New Zealand the following year.
Coetzee gave the Kiwis a run for their money at Newlands, going down 25-24, but the Boks were bleeding.
MASSIVE: World champion Springboks. Picture: Christophe Ena/AP.
In stepped Erasmus with a mountain to climb.
But what he brought was a clear plan.
He identified the players he was going to back for the World Cup, had his game plan in place and was brave enough to try in-form players.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/Springboks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Springboksare your World Rugby Team of the Year! #WorldRugbyAwards pic.twitter.com/FmjoGyCUkw
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup)
On top of that he built a team and worked with the people in his squad, he didn’t just see players.
His man-management is second-to-none, with captain Siya Kolisi hailing this team as the best he’s ever been part of when he collected the Team of the Year prize on Sunday.
NEXT BOSS: Jacques Nienaber. Picture: Luigi Bennett/BackpagePix.
Of how the coach took them from sixth in the world to world champions in under two years, Kolisi says: “The coach gave me my first contract when I was 18 and he has coached a lot of the guys at different times.
“He knows us, and we bought into his plan.
“As soon as he came, he made it clear that the most important thing was the Springbok, whereas in the past we tried to build ourselves through social media or whatever.
“He just brought us back to earth and told us that we have to play well first and then everything else would come.
“It’s awesome to see it come together.”
With Erasmus only focusing on his job as Director of Rugby, rumours claim that Jacques Nienaber is a shoo-in to replace him as head coach.