Fester, Gold dodge bullet
25 May 2006
Kobus van der Merwe and Gary Gold will coach Western Province in the Currie Cup, but will almost certainly be axed at the end of the season if the team fails to fire.
This was confirmed by WP director of rugby Nick Mallett on Thursday.
“If there’s no performance in the Currie Cup, then we’ve got to look at the coaching,” Mallett told a gathering of suite holders at Newlands. “We are limited in coaching in South Africa … but few coaches want to coach here because of the political difficulties that come with the job.”
The meeting was called in the wake of “negative comments concerning Western Province rugby over the past few months,” said managing director Rob Wagner. “We feel that a year after Mallett’s appointment as director of rugby, it was timeous for Nick to inform our most important stakeholders on what has happened and how he sees WP Rugby in the future.”
Mallett admitted that there was a plenty of work to do in the weeks ahead.
“We made lots of mistakes [in the Super 14] – too many offsides and missed tackles for example. But we have good players in all positions. There’s just a problem with their youth and leadership.
“We’re perfectly aware that this team can play better and we have no problem with the players we have got. The team performed with heart, but not with enough skill. We didn’t play with intelligence.”
40 Comments
25 May 2006, 16:20 pm
Silent Bob is a ****
25 May 2006, 16:20 pm
Should have been booted out after the S14.
25 May 2006, 16:22 pm
so if i read the last sentence correctly he is confirming that the strompies are dumber than dutchmen.
ONS TREK FOKKERS!!
25 May 2006, 16:28 pm
How long did **** Muir have before his team turned around.
Give Van more time his team is a bit slow on the uptake!!
25 May 2006, 16:31 pm
Unfortunately, the lack of depth at WP could prove a problem for the current coaches.
Have to wait and see which of the Boks are sent back to their unions when the squad is culled to 30.
Otherwise……problem.
The WP vodacom side didn’t have much of an impact….and neither did the S14 unit.Going to be tough for the incumbent coaches.
25 May 2006, 16:32 pm
Please Nick! Won’t you coach WP?
25 May 2006, 16:33 pm
What the hell?!
FIRE THEM NOW! NOT LATER! WE MIGHT JUST AS WELL NOT WATCH CURRIE CUP! WE KNOW THE SAME OLD STORY IS GONNA HAPPEN WITH WP!!!
25 May 2006, 16:37 pm
You WP ou,s must have faith.
Look where the Bulls were 5 – 7 years ago,
25 May 2006, 16:38 pm
skim, i’d prefer someone who actually knows how to manage players and not shout at them and humiliate them cos that is exactly what he does…
Also, i find this comment quite strange.
“We are limited in coaching in South Africa … but few coaches want to coach here because of the political difficulties that come with the job.â€
So now he blames political interference. I just have to bring this up but as far as i’m concerned the white players at WP/Strmrs were doing much worse than their black counterparts.
Nokwe and Chavanga were average to say the least but compared to Theron, De Kock, Joubert, Badenhorst, Grant and Barry they were good.
Cheers, i’m outa here…
25 May 2006, 16:39 pm
Fire them know if youre going to do it! Province have big problems to cope with this season and they better start addressing them.
ps.Silent Bob rules!
25 May 2006, 16:41 pm
now…sorry…fire me.
25 May 2006, 16:43 pm
Interesting that suiteholders are the most important stakeholders. is this not a sign that they are out of tough with reality or am I overestimating the value of fans?
25 May 2006, 16:44 pm
Just heard Selborne Boom is back next month and pending a medical should slot in for WP CC team. Will probably get the captaincy as well.
25 May 2006, 16:44 pm
Oh my God.
Say it isn’t so.
PLEEEEAAASSE !!!!
25 May 2006, 16:46 pm
wpw
To what extent are you certain that Nick shouts at his players? Certainly he does so when it is necessary, but whatever he does, he gets the results. All his winning teams have clearly not been unhappy with him because winning teams are invariably happy, collective units. The same can be said of Alex Ferguson at United. Yes, he is known to give the odd player the “hairdryer” treatment once in a while but only when needed. And he has also had unparallelled success at United. Whatever it takes to win.
25 May 2006, 16:46 pm
Who? what team? Currie what?…..
Oh Jah! they will do well when there arent any quality players left in the pool! Make me laugh!
25 May 2006, 16:46 pm
i dare anyone to try and coach those prima donnas
25 May 2006, 17:00 pm
sorry to all WP fans, i dont think you are going to enjoy the CC as much as I am.
25 May 2006, 17:16 pm
I was astonished that Van der Merwe even got the post, considering his credentials and then comparing those to Gary Gold’s.
25 May 2006, 17:22 pm
‘The team performed with heart ….’ !!! What?? Where??
Does anyone have these few rare moments on DVD for me to watch and enjoy?/ I must have missed them.
Fester had the same star-studded team in last years CC and he failed to get anything out of them against the big unions.
They have been heartless, clueless and a disgrace to WP and the Storemers under his coaching.
What a shambles, the man is clearly out of his depth. The inevitable CC failure will result in a slow start to next years S14, as the team will be ‘building’ under a new coach.
We have idiots running WP rugby at the moment. It is not patience we need as fans. We need dynamic, intellgent administartion of our team.
25 May 2006, 17:26 pm
Dont worry, Bob Skinstad is making a comeback and he is coming to Newlands…
25 May 2006, 22:20 pm
This is absolute music to my ears! It’s been long over due since someone balls have been on the very very thin line, like this, concerning performance!
Like the saying in Cape Town goes:take the bull by the balls, because if you try to take the bull by the horn you will be sitting with a horn through you, but take him by the balls and he knows who’s BOSS!!
Beside the Stormers tried taking the bulls by the horn and we all know what happened there!!
26 May 2006, 01:18 am
Seems like Nick is talking through his arse these days.
The only thing they think they have is heart. There were a few games like the Crusaders,the comeback vs the Reds (Ithink) and the opening 10 mins vs the Bulls where they had heart Sage.
Still not enough but those were the moments. You cant ignore a good win vs Crusaders. Carter and McD came on of rlast 35 mins and could not make an impact. Stormers were all over them.
STILL ,A TERRIBLE SEASON.
What amazes me is all the bungee comments that Nick makes. Trying to make it sound ok whn he amits we had no skill. Perfectly happy with the players we’ve got ,but they had didnt play with enough skill or intelligence.’ !!!
Nick I’d say houston,we have a problem. Perhaps your coaching could not get it out of these no problem players. Dont waste any time. if you really think its not the players then make some vital changes now….or atleast coach the flipping coaches to coach some decent skill and intelligence.
You’re putting your foot in your mouth here buddy.
26 May 2006, 02:34 am
sick of excuses. get rid of them and start a fresh. fresh talent, fresh attitude and maybe we will win a few more games at home.
26 May 2006, 02:41 am
As Mallett says, very few good coaches could even be bothered coaching in SA because of “political difficulties” (a.k.a. “transformation quotas”).
So, why not address these “political difficulties” directly then?
Pick rep teams strictly on merit, no matter what the ANC regime may or may not think about it. Put that difficult political ball straight back in their court. Make it entirely the ANC regime’s problem, not SARU’s or WPRFU’s and least of all the expert coach’s.
That’s the way to get up off your threadbare supplicants’ kneepads.
26 May 2006, 04:54 am
The Tackler – Last week on one of these threads I mentioned how difficult the WP/Stormers coaching job is. And bud it is not the transformational political issues Mallett is referring to. It is my opinion, that he was taking a direct swipe at his masters in the WP Union.
The WP rugby union is an old school organisation, still stuck in the lates 70′s, mid 80′s. WP rugby does not have a problem selecting a merit team. There is enough quality black players in the Cape. WP rugby needs leadership at board level. Nick referred to the lack of leadership in the Stormers team. The problem is even bigger at Board level. What are the ctredentials of people like Rob Wagner, Theuns roodman, Tobie Titus and others? There is also huge mistrust inside the union. There is still an us and them mentality between the white and black clubs. These are the issues that Mallett is referring to.
But when you are obsessed with transformation and an angry person like you are, that is all you will see. I thought you had a little more intelligence and was able to look beyond your nose. But I suppose anger makes the brain smaller.
26 May 2006, 08:46 am
Just do what the bulls do play 2 black wings and thats all the colour you need.
the bulls get away with it why cant we. OOh we’re Cape Town the ANC hate the cape cause we hate them.
26 May 2006, 09:38 am
Classic! Marius Joubert misses 3 critical tackles and drops a simple pass all of which lead to tries , thats 20 pts minus the conversions with the conversions that amounts to more than half the bulls points in the entire game and marius was only on the field for 30 minutes Add to that the poor performance of Peter Grant and ull have about 80 % of the reason why the stormer lost the game its pretty much the same story for the other s14 gaems and yet some okes blame transformation for the teams performance Yes guys that must be it
26 May 2006, 09:46 am
Redox the problem is during isolation everyone believed SA was the world’s best rugby nation. Now that we are back, we lose regularly. And what do you blame? What is different now? It must be the blacks. Off course.
26 May 2006, 10:05 am
Jys reg CFB! Dit is die blacks se skuld dat ons verloor!
Die allblacks!
26 May 2006, 10:17 am
Capeflatsboy,
The credentials of the persons you mentioned are really concerning.
Rob Wagner was a biology teacher at RBHS – for Pete’s sake!!! Now he is CEO of Western Province rugby. He had a stint at Villagers 9UCT Old Boy’s Club) and I guess that qualified him.
Tobie Titus works at the old Pentech (now the CPUT)… the man is a complete joke. Remember him voting last year against his unions instructions? An the worst is it is rumoured that he is going to replace Koos Basson who is moving up as deputy at SARU. (good riddance!! Sorry SARU, I really don’t know what you are going to do with him… reeeeaaally old school. Lads, I love Province, but the people in charge won’t last 20 minutes in the corporate sector. The only thing they understand is their “entitlements and priviledges” : first calss tickets when travelling; 5 star hotel accommodation; prime tickets for the game; travel perks to “follow” the team; being called Sir in the passage ways. Yes, thats what being a leader is all about!!!
There is only one way out of the quagmire we are in: Wagner must go (but he has enough old boys looking out for him); Titus must go (but he has enough clubs protecting him) and Koos Basson must NOT come back.
26 May 2006, 10:26 am
I think the clean up should begin now. First thing- lose the silly ‘Stormers’ name. Give WP back their identity and pride.
I remember the first super 12 game at newlands: ‘Western Stormers’ against Wellington Hurricanes…with a mascot ‘Captain Storm’ charging around the field with a rubber thunderbolt for an arm! And that horrendous orange jerseys! At least thats gone but the pride and identity of WP rugby is maybe gone as well…
26 May 2006, 10:34 am
How do you console these two statements…
‘we have no problem with the players we have got. The team performed with heart, but not with enough skill. ‘ – Why are we happy with players that lack skill. Are they working on skills as the sharks have been doing with Campese?
Did anyone grill Nic about his stupid refusal to release Watson for the world 15 game?
26 May 2006, 10:41 am
How the hell can a union with so much money, so much history and a hell of a lot of homegrown players not have skilled ones?
26 May 2006, 10:42 am
Yet more excuses shifted to the PLayers.
26 May 2006, 11:05 am
Ddrek – I was at the Crusaders game and will concede that that was the only game that this team has played with any heart.
At last years Muppit evening, Mallett was ranting on about the fact that NO TEAM will ever perform so poorly under his tenure as the one that lost 75-14 to the Bulls.
He was disgusted with their performance and indicated that any player who showed that attitude again would be shown the door.
This seasons encounter against the Bulls 43-10 AT HOME was just as disgraceful! It summed up vdMerwes tenure as coach.
There has been NO improvement in form or attitude, unlike at the Sharks who were in a worse position than the Stormers last year.
As a fan, I am very disappointed in the fact that this incompetent management team has been allowed to continue.
There has been a lot of bluster, big talk and false promises and no visible improvements.
They need to be held accountable and answer to their fans!!
26 May 2006, 11:10 am
Now the comments made by mossel is exactly why there is so much division in WP rugby. “We have tradition”, “The hooped jersey is sacred”, “The stormers emblem looks like the swastika and reminds one of the nazis”.
For heaven’s sake. Move into the new millenium. Let professionals run the union and turn it around.
ThomasB Tobie Titus is already the president at newlands. The executive and club reps are only interested in what they can get for themselves. They do not have rugby at heart. That is nick mallett’s point. He am actually surprised mallett work’s for them. But maybe he does not have other options.
26 May 2006, 13:20 pm
I dont know if I should laugh or Cry!!!
I feel this maybe the right choice…remember when HM was brought back to the bulls he was also given an ultimatum: You either win us the Currie Cup or you leave! he went on to win it! So what would perform mean to fester and Gold? Winning it or just getting to a final? What is perform! I’m just glad at least he is telling them to start performing….cause they were hiding behind the “we are still building” excuse. That must be the worst excuse to be used by them as they had 11 boks to choose from!
i am concerned about what if they dont ” perform’ Will Nick take over and make sure next years s14 isnt just a “building phase”!!
FFS
FFS man!!
26 May 2006, 13:26 pm
Now my requirements by Fester:
1. Do not lose a single game to the Bulls in this CC.
2. Do not lose a single game against the Sharks in this CC.
3. Win at least your home games against the stiffer opposition, eg Cheetahs and Lions.
4. Get into the Final and win it…..
Winning the final but losing to the bulls during the year will mean nothing to me…they are the team to beat…no one else!!
Build a team that shows commitment and passion… or take your bags and FO!!
FFS
FFS Man!!
26 May 2006, 19:49 pm
Provvas, WP is so scared of the Bulls now they soil themselves everytime they have to run on the field to play the Bulls.
We are going to hand you your asses on a plate a few more times this year:)
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