Rassie Erasmus has pulled off some audacious moves in his coaching career, but his latest stunt has left the rugby world scratching their heads, literally. The Springboks boss and his entire management team have gone full skinhead after a mysterious bet, and South Africa is desperate to know what on Earth they wagered.

Social media exploded on Sunday when Erasmus posted a picture alongside scrum coach Daan Human, both sporting freshly shaved skulls that gleamed under the camera flash. The caption? Deliciously cryptic: “The prize of a bet 🙈”

That was enough to send the Springbok faithful into meltdown. What bet? Who won? Who lost? And more importantly, what could possibly convince the man who orchestrated back-to-back Rugby World Cup triumphs to sacrifice his hair at the altar of a wager gone wrong?

Three hours later, Erasmus twisted the knife deeper. Another picture emerged on social media, this time revealing the full extent of the follicular carnage.

The entire Springboks management team, every last one of them—had embraced the bald look, including media manager Zeena Isaacs. The caption, delivered in Afrikaans with the deadpan brilliance that has become Erasmus’s trademark: “reëls is reëls” – rules are rules.

And just like that, the guessing game was on.

The theories: what exactly did they bet on?

The timing couldn’t be more suggestive. The mass head-shaving came immediately after South Africa completed a memorable 3-1 series triumph over New Zealand in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry. The Springboks wrapped up the four-Test series with a commanding 43-28 victory in Baltimore on Saturday, cementing their status as the world’s premier rugby nation and leaving the All Blacks licking their wounds stateside.

Theory number one: Did Erasmus and his management team bet on winning three matches in a row? The Boks claimed victories in Tests two, three, and four after dropping the opening match. Perhaps the wager was that if they completed the comeback, everyone would lose their locks. If that’s the case, the management team backing against their own side seems unlikely, but stranger things have happened.

Theory number two: Was it linked to retaining the world number one ranking? South Africa’s series triumph ensured they remained perched atop the World Rugby rankings, fending off challenges from Ireland, France, and the vanquished All Blacks. Perhaps the bet was whether they could hold that summit position, with hair on the line as collateral.

Theory number three, and perhaps the most plausible: Was it a way of marking Erasmus’s 100th victory in charge of the world champions? The Baltimore triumph could have represented a milestone, and what better way to celebrate a century of wins than with a management team that looks like they’ve collectively joined a monastery?

Also read: Player Ratings: Boks secure series with commanding win

Or maybe, and this is the delicious possibility that nobody can rule out, the bet had absolutely nothing to do with rugby. Perhaps it was something completely absurd, like whether Human could consume a certain number of Boerewors rolls in one sitting, or whether Erasmus could correctly predict the score within five points. With Rassie, literally anything is possible.

The timing: After Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry triumph

The head-shaving came in the immediate aftermath of South Africa’s comprehensive dismantling of New Zealand in Baltimore.

The series itself provided compelling theatre. New Zealand claimed the first Test, briefly suggesting they might have closed the gap on the world champions. South Africa’s response was emphatic, three consecutive victories, each more convincing than the last, culminating in the Baltimore masterclass that left no doubt about which team sits atop the rugby hierarchy.

Also read: Former Springbok captains praise ‘fantastic’ team after All Blacks triumph

Erasmus has always understood the power of narrative, the importance of moments that transcend the scoreboard. Shaving his head, in the aftermath of such a significant series triumph creates an unforgettable image, a bizarre footnote to a historic achievement.

The Erasmus factor: master of the unexpected

If you’ve followed Rassie Erasmus’s coaching career, absolutely none of this surprises you. The man who released hour-long videos dissecting referee decisions, who transformed water-carrier duties into an art form before World Rugby clamped down, who orchestrated back-to-back World Cup triumphs whilst keeping everyone guessing about his methods, this is exactly the sort of stunt he’d pull.