Rassie Erasmus becomes the most capped head coach in Springbok history on Saturday when he takes charge for the 55th time, surpassing Jake White's record of 54 tests set between 2004 and 2007.
Saturday's match against Scotland in Pretoria also marks the 94th Springbok match played under Erasmus's guidance since his return to SARU in 2018, a figure that includes his period as director of rugby during Jacques Nienaber's tenure.
Across his 54 tests as head coach — spanning his initial 2018-19 spell and his return from 2024 — Erasmus holds a win rate of 75.93% (W41 D1 L12), compared to the 62.5% historical winning record he inherited. Since resuming the head coach title, that figure has climbed to 85.7% across 28 matches, with only four defeats.
The record places him clear of White (P54 W36 D1 L17, 66.67%), Heyneke Meyer (P48 W32 D2 L14, 66.67%), Pieter de Villiers (P48 W30 D0 L18, 62.50%) and Jacques Nienaber (P39 W27 D0 L12, 69.23%).
SARU President Mark Alexander said Erasmus had transformed both the team's results and the country's relationship with the sport. CEO Rian Oberholzer went further, stating: "There is no doubt that Rassie is the greatest coach to ever lead the Springboks and he will rank highly in conversations about the greatest coach to ever take charge of a national team from any country."
Erasmus, who received the Order of Ikhamanga in Gold for his contribution to the sport, was characteristically brief on the milestone: "When players reach milestones we don't talk about it in the build-up to matches and the same applies this week. It's a nice thing to know but the most important and only thing this week is performing against a very dangerous Scotland team."