Only the best for Heyneke
4 Sep 2008
Heyneke Meyer wants to make the Leicester Tigers the best club team in the world.
Meyer and Leicester’s competitive season begins on Sunday against Gloucester. After his predecessor, Marcelo Loffreda, lasted less than a year, there is pressure on Meyer to deliver in his first season at the helm. Moreover, Meyer wants the Tigers to set the standard in the Premiership and across Europe throughout his next three years in charge.
“My long-term goal is to make Leicester the best club side in the world,” Meyer told The Guardian.
“We should be able to achieve that in my time here. When I left the Bulls after winning the Super 14 last year and failed to get the job of South Africa coach, I thought my time in rugby was over. I turned down a number of offers from international and club sides. Then Leicester came in, a club which shares my vision and values, and here I am.”
Meyer’s vision and values include success via hard work. This is epitomised by the coach’s current injury, where he ruptured his Achilles tendon during training last week. “It was a sort of race. Put it down to team-building. I will be in plaster for six weeks and then see how it goes,” he said.
With these core values in mind, Meyer will only sign players who are willing to put the collective before the individual. “We need a wing because of all the injuries we have: we will take our time because as well as being a world-class player, the guy must fit into the values of the club. Individualism must not come before the team. Every aspect of Leicester and everything we do must be totally professional,” said Meyer.
“It [the English season] will be a new experience for me, but I have watched a lot of Premiership rugby in recent years. It is different to the Currie Cup because it has 12 good teams in it. The English season is tough because three competitions overlap and you have international calls, but we have drawn up plans and we have a very strong squad,” he said.
Much has been talked about the new attacking inclinations of teams under the ELVs, but a pragmatic Meyer noted how sides have to play to their traditional strengths. “We will change tactically, improving when it comes to intensity, skill levels and try scoring, but you always have to play to your strengths.”
Meyer left South Africa having nurtured the best provincial side in the world. You wouldn’t bet against him revitalising a tiring Leicester outfit into the flagship team of Europe.
356 Comments
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4 Sep 2008, 18:47 pm
#350 shooter: tot more
4 Sep 2008, 19:00 pm
#351 vindicated: bye vindi. look at the bright side of life, you’re not living Aus. In SA there are all types of doctors and life can be surprisingly nice if you are. Don’t think twice, be nice, I have legal advice. anyway Mufkop, cheers.
4 Sep 2008, 19:15 pm
Waar is Skop. laat hy kom lees oor ‘n oordentlike Coach!!!!
4 Sep 2008, 20:17 pm
#352 shooter: thanks for the insight into your personality today – its been enlightening – cheers koekkop
5 Sep 2008, 04:43 am
#268 shooter: Shooter, and that ****** bunch beats SA consistently? You make me think of Jake (of which I’m a fan incidentally) with his famous Ireland comment.
5 Sep 2008, 08:49 am
This guy is unbelieveable. He makes millions telling the world how **** SA Rugby is, then wants them to create a job for him to take him back. Jake White is an a$$hole.
Jake White won’t let up
Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:49
World Cup-winning coach Jake White is determined to have an involvement with the Springboks once again, despite his list of grievances with the South African Rugby Union (SARU) last year.
Even after the Springboks’ ever-convincing 53-8 Tri-Nations victory over Australia last weekend, White has increased calls for him to be appointed in a new-look role as director of rugby within SARU.
White stepped down from the Springbok coaching seat shortly after their World Cup successes last year, and then released his autobiography which revealed a host of grievances he had with SARU during his tenure as head coach.
All that seems a thing of the past now, as White is adamant to return to the fold, in a role which would support the Bok coaching staff – which is headed by the irrepressible Peter de Villiers.
De Villiers on the other hand is currently set for a routine post-Tri-Nations debrief with the SARU bosses.
“As you are now aware I am promoting the idea of a ‘Director of Rugby’ in order to facilitate an easier succession and assist the coaching staff,” White wrote on his blogspot page.
“This is not meant to be in competition or as boss of the current coaching staff but rather as a sounding board to the coaches.
“That is why I was at pains to point out that this would add value without usurping the role, functions or decision-making powers of the coaching staff.
“Just as I needed Eddie Jones’ experience to bring home the 2007 World Cup, so too can Peter de Villiers and the coaches benefit from mine.
“The common goal is after all to make the Springboks the number one team in World rugby.”
The prospect of White having a future role with SA rugby seemed unlikely on the release of his controversial book late last year – as SARU president Oregan Hoskins initially quashed the proposal last week, stating that a ‘directors’ role didn’t exist within the national setup.
However, Hoskins seemed to have softened his stance soon after, saying that SA rugby personnel would debate the merits of the said position.
White described the Springboks’ record victory in Johannesburg as an “outstanding achievement”, saying it highlighted just what a talented group of players the current squad possesses.
White said it was important that the hard work did not end with the record win over the Wallabies, and that South Africa needed to work on its consistency.
“The next step is to build on that victory which means that right now we have to look back and see why the team did not perform as it can on a regular basis,” White wrote.
“We need to sort out the problems that are holding us back and result in us underachieving. One result will not provide the answer to those questions.
“We need to establish the things that are holding us back and why they are occasioning defeats on one Saturday and victory on the next.
“We have to be consistent and that comes from identifying where these problems are. There is a world of difference between losing and being beaten,” White adde
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