System Beats Stardom: The Leadership Lessons of Rassie Erasmus and Luke Donald
- PG Geldenhuys
- Oct 8
- 4 min read
Who gets married at 3pm on a Saturday when the Springboks need to win the Rugby Championship at the same time? My wife’s childhood best friend, that’s who. Kudos to Sarah and Wynand - they kept the ceremony short and the photo shoot long, which allowed me to sneak away for the second half for my maiden over at the Pirates Steakhouse and Grill, a southern suburbs institution I’m told. I had my 48-minute Ricky-Louw-and-Coke, Sacha, Marx and the Boks delivered, and all was well with the world. I got back to the wedding in time for speeches and dancefloor revelry. It was a great way to end an amazing two weeks of sport.
If you loved watching the Springboks grind out the Rugby Championship in Twickenham and you were glued to the Ryder Cup chaos at Bethpage, you already felt it: same song, different stadium. Europe and the Boks both turned foreign arenas into their home turf. They won not just with stars, but with systems, depth, and ruthless preparation. That matters to you and me because most days we’re not the Scottie Schefflers of the world - we’re the Shane Lowrys, the slightly overweight dudes who keep showing up until Sunday finds us.
Over the last five newsletters I unpacked my Ryder Cup experience with glee: the danger of over-relying on A-players, Rory’s intentional pivot into lightning-rod leadership, Shane’s everyman heroics, the diluted focus that snared Keegan Bradley, and Luke Donald’s masterclass in Level 5 leadership. I would be remiss if I didn’t draw the line straight through to that other team who just did the double in winning the Rugby Championship: my beloved Springboks.
Luke Donald = Rassie Erasmus: System beats stardom. Both engineered advantages in the 1%: environment prep, scenario planning, man management, no egos, substitutions/pairings, and trusting your game plan and players because you did the work years ago. Anti-fragility isn’t a poster - it’s a protocol wrapped in purpose and plan. Europe plays for something more than money, as do the Springboks.
Rory McIlroy = Siya Kolisi: Not just team leaders - emotional thermostats. They absorb heat so the team can stay cool, redefining “popular” as “purposeful.” They work the stakeholders, calm the troops, lead the charge. Leadership can be likability, sure, but in the case of these two men, I think resilience is even more apt.
Shane Lowry = Wilco Louw: Second-half brutality. When momentum wobbles, you need a tighthead/teammate who wins collisions. Sunday birdie on 18; 60th-minute scrum penalty - same currency. Wilco Louw is the new Ox, rolling over opposition the moment he comes on. Shane Lowry provided the muscle for Rory when the crowd turned hostile, and delivered the clutch points.
Justin Rose = Handré Pollard: Ice veins. Did you see the look in Rose’s eyes throughout the tournament? Dialled in. He lives for this. Pollard has the same look over a World Cup-winning penalty - the higher the heat, the more he wants to be in the kitchen. And how? Maturity, for sure. And clutch is a capability you prepare for: reps, routines, recovery.
Tommy Fleetwood = Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu: Charisma, skill, and a love of the big plays in the big moments. When the plan demands poise and flair, they are there to deliver, and even the most hostile of crowds can’t help but marvel at their brilliance. Even a hostile American crowd or a John Kirwan on commentary can’t help but tip their cap at undeniable talent and application.
And I don’t have enough space here to equate Rambo and Tyrrell Hatton with the Bomb Squad: cold, hard killers who delivered the momentum-swinging blows.
Just in summary, though, some final thoughts on all this:
A-player trap: Your “Scottie” can dominate metrics and still sink the team if the system tilts around them.
Bomb Squad design: Identify your Hatton/Rahm equivalents - people who move the scoreboard in unglamorous minutes. Give them specific late-game roles.
Clutch factory: Pollard/Rose moments aren’t magic; they’re pre-decision checklists and practised stress rituals. You lean on your experienced go-tos in the big moments, and make sure they’re fresh for the task.
This is Atomic Habits (marginal gains), 7 Habits (response over stimulus, begin with the end in mind), and Level 5 Leadership (humility + will) in one operating system. Small edges, stacked consistently, compound into away-win inevitability. Whether Team Europe or the Springboks, it’s all there. And the All Blacks and Team USA have some work to do.
Both teams travelled into noise and turned it into music. Preparation created poise; poise enabled intent; intent invited luck. Seneca was right: luck is when preparation meets opportunity.
PG’s Pro Tip:
1) Build your Bomb Squad (30 minutes):
List 3–5 “quiet destroyers” on your team. For each, define one late-stage, high-leverage play (e.g., escalate stalled deals, stabilise a hairy deployment, calm a key account). Give them tools, not slogans: checklists, war rooms, time blocks.
2) Install the Clutch Ritual (this week):
Before any big “kick at posts” (board pitch, enterprise demo, renewal call), run a 10-minute routine: breathing cadence, success rehearsal, last-metre checklist, role clarity. Track result, debrief quickly, iterate.
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