2019 was a bonus. This is the World Cup Rassie and Nienaber planned for

The defending champion Springboks have set sights on becoming just the second team to win back-to-back Rugby World Cups after New Zealand in 2011 and 2015.

PLANNED FOR: Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber ultimate goal is to win the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Pic: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images/Getty Images

This Rugby World Cup was always the ultimate goal for the Springboks coaching combination of Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber, who sat down soon after taking over a struggling team in early 2018 and began plotting a five-year plan to build a squad for France in 2023.

South Africa’s victory at the 2019 World Cup — a surprise and immediate reward — was actually just “a bonus,” Erasmus said.