Book Review: An Uplifting Memoir of Hope, Unity, and National Pride – “Rassie”
With the 2023 Rugby World Cup fever having seized the attention of millions of South Africans, all eyes are on the hosting nation France. Coming in as defending champions, having beaten England to the coveted prize in the previous edition four years ago, the Springboks have their sights set on making the nation proud once again. Yet, in as much as the hype has taken over, the short-sightedness of not knowing what it means to play at the grand stage representing a nation still has many in the dark when it comes to the sporting spectacle. And that’s where Rassie: Stories of Life and Rugby comes in to correct the fault.
Published by Pan Macmillan South Africa, the memoir chronicles the life and times of 2019 World Cup-winning coach of the Green and Gold, Johan ‘Rassie‘ Erasmus. Penned by the maverick himself, it recounts events before, during, and after getting his oft-broken fingers on the glorious silver gilt of the Webb Ellis Cup. With the help of award-winning writer and broadcaster David O’Sullivan, he gingerly traces his life back to his humble beginnings in the tight-knit circle of Dispatch in the Eastern Cape, under the leadership of his well-meaning but alcoholism-afflicted father, the tender care and support of his sports-inclined mother, and the inspiring matrix of the intimate Afrikaner community.
What stands out the most about Erasmus’s offering is its social and political awareness of South African society and the cankerous issues that have plagued it for the longest of times. Even more remarkable is his ability to do so without coming off as preachy and forceful but humorous yet straightforward. This double-edged ability is evident in how he can cut through the dilemmas of growing up in Apartheid South Africa, the rough transitioning in the name of transformation, and the social ills SA faces on a daily basis without losing sight of the beauty of the people and the nation.
The heavy themes are encapsulated in the pell-mell of picture-esque rugby imagery, on- and off-field interactions, and realizations which work together to offset the grimness of reality that most South Africans are faced with the moment they wake up.
Above the chaos of the successes and the beauty of the failures expounded upon in Rassie, the message of hope is one that puts its hand up the highest. Detailing the events leading up to the historic moment in Yokohama, Erasmus reminds the reader (albeit indirectly through a firm talk with the team before the Final) that the game isn’t something that can be reduced to an 80-minute-long contact sport. What it is, at its core, is the glue that holds together Mzansi folk from different walks of life. He illustrates, with the triumph in the final, that differences between people that can so easily divide can be flipped to write a script fertile with hope and strength against adversity, all in the spirit of diversity.
Johan’s Rassie is an uplifting memoir of hope, unity, and nationalism. It doesn’t feign humility by turning its face away from all the ugly aspects of being South African. Instead, it faces them head-on with arms wide open while trying hard to find a way forward with nothing but positive energy and an oval-shaped ball.
