Get inside Big Vic’s head
29 Sep 2009
Victor Matfield is the undisputed lineout king, but what gives him the edge over his opponents?
Click here to subscribe (12 issues for R199)
In the latest issue of SA Rugby magazine, on sale this week, Eddie Jones and Gary Gold provide unique insight into Matfield’s ‘sixth sense’ at the lineout, while the player himself explains exactly what he does when the ball’s about to be thrown in.
Matfield also talks openly about his insatiable hunger for success, why playing 100 Tests for the Boks would mean so much to him, fears that the Boks are peaking too soon before the 2011 World Cup and his coaching ambitions.
Also in the new issue of SA Rugby magazine:
– The key to the Springboks’ Tri-Nations triumph
– Big Debate: Should John Smit be playing tighthead prop for the Boks? Robbie Kempson says yes, Ollie le Roux says no …
– Why Juan Smith is irreplaceable
– The departure of Frans Steyn has left Peter de Villiers with a selection headache at fullback. Percy Montgomery and André Joubert rate the leading candidates for the position
– South African club rugby continues to be plagued by violent incidents involving players, coaches and spectators. One man, though, believes his relaunched initiative will effectively tackle the problem
– How Dawie Theron has reignited the belief at Griquas
– Sharks centre Waylon Murray on his injury nightmare, getting back into the Springbok set-up, and his future plans
– When Harlequins were caught faking a blood injury during a European Cup match last season, it resulted in a record £259 000 fine for the club, a three-year ban for their director of rugby, and a four-month ban for the player involved. SA Rugby magazine finds out exactly what happened and what the implications of ‘Bloodgate’ are for the game in England
– It’s as though he’s never been away. Never shattered that Achilles tendon. Never had to fight his way back through six months of hard slog just to run up and down a rugby field again. it’s the latest remarkable feat in the career of Dan Carter
– Once the most hated rugby player in South Africa, Clyde Rathbone recently quit the game after a long injury battle. He explains his decision, reflects on the highs and lows of his career, and rates the current Springboks
PLUS: Six of the best match-altering tackles (and all of them legal)
212 Comments
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27 Sep 2009, 21:22 pm
No, no – there also comes a point in time when the pariah status needs to actually be questioned. It is not for everyone else to fit around the needs and requirements of LW.
Where i agree is that the fathers of these men should stay clear out of it, since it has nothing to do with them.
27 Sep 2009, 21:24 pm
#101 cab: Agree.
27 Sep 2009, 21:26 pm
i can see why schalk burger gets upset, along comes this upstart giving everyone orders, some ppl dont work like that, someone tries to push you around and you a certain type of character, you dont get pushed anywhere, you push back.
27 Sep 2009, 21:28 pm
WP will beat that overrated team cab then you might have some swallowing to do, Will be quite a sweet victory actually if Watson lifts the trophy in Durban with Smit and the others that chased him away watching on. Can’t wait actually for this little cookie to crumble.
Blaauw, Liebenberg, Harris,
4 lock, Van Zyl, Louw, Vermeulen, Watson.
Duvenhage, Grant, Toomua, De Jongh, Welsh, Aplon, Chavanga, Nakalavuki, Pietersen
Will eat that overrated Sharky outfit for breakfast in fact thats if Cheetahs don’t do it first. Much more concern about Cheetahs and Bulls then soft bellied Sharks especially Muller and co in the engine room.
27 Sep 2009, 21:31 pm
Evening guys, I’m on the Province/Cricket thread. Watsons problem is that, as an idealistic youngster, he didn’t take note of the fact that the bulk of the Bok team still regarded the ANC as the terrorist enemy. It might not have been concious, but it’s a mindset that the majority of white South Africans still have.
27 Sep 2009, 21:32 pm
#104 skopskiet:
LOL, not going to happen, your passion clouds your judgement, your ideology wins out over reason, every now and again it might do so, but statistically and rationally i will be right more times than you, imo, but lets see.
Same thing with JW and his style, you did not like the man, but you merged that with his rugby coaching ability.
27 Sep 2009, 21:36 pm
#105 David: What? Speak for yourself. I am white and SA. ANC terrorists, enemy?
Wake up! Talking bout yourself no doubt.
27 Sep 2009, 21:40 pm
#105 David:
maybe, but i dunno about that, the captain of griquas is a black guy, cant honestly believe that is altogether true, the old school will def have viewed the ANC as the enemy but not so sure that applies to the youngers… ppl gnerallly tend to be a bit weary of pushy upstarts regardless of political persuasion.
27 Sep 2009, 21:45 pm
I’m not talking about racism, but the fact that the ANC, amongst the white population is still demonised. Luke was/is an outspoken proponent of the ANC and admirer of his father.
27 Sep 2009, 21:46 pm
#105 David: what? Is that what those blokes @ free state university were thinking?
27 Sep 2009, 21:47 pm
#108 cab: Are you guys arguing who is black and white and acceptable and not acceptable as captain….and who is ANC?
I’m getting al confused between rugby and politics here.
Old school..enemy? What are you saying?
27 Sep 2009, 21:47 pm
#109 David:
yes on an ideological basis i agree with all of what you say, hell on an ideological basis i agree with all of what Watson has to say about the sprinbok jersey and the hallowed Danie Craven, the point that i am making tho is that he has not only fallen foul of White, but appears to have rubbed everyone up the wrong way, even those aligned with his ideals.
27 Sep 2009, 21:49 pm
#111 batman:
lol, i think its all being thrown into the mix at the moment.
27 Sep 2009, 21:50 pm
Fault you may say is the upstart, I look at the management of the players. Sure the kid may have been a c’cky young upstart so what does the coach do. Either work with the nature of the individual or you cast it out the kraal and make him the black sheep. I believe White realises his folly in how he dealt with the issue but only belatedly.
James Small, Dalton, etc were not such easy individuals to deal with but if the coach worked with the character of the players they bring the better aspect to the party. White had the opportunity to incorporate all of Watsons abilities in 2006, he chose the opposite and turned a ravaged jaundiced blind eye to his capacity and so he lost 49-0 and at the same token created a pariah setup that never got healed. White was far more the architect of the nature of this stand off than Watson was, he had the power to change it and admit his folly but his ego would not back down and admit he needed a fetching flank in 2006, so he landed up losing 49-0 instead and almost his entire credibility which was only resurrected by E. Jones and the easiest of WC draws in history.
27 Sep 2009, 21:50 pm
#109 David: “the fact that the ANC, amongst the white population is still demonised”
And you claim not to be a racist?
27 Sep 2009, 21:54 pm
#114 skopskiet: What would the score have been if Watson played?#113 cab: Can’t keep up…….
27 Sep 2009, 21:56 pm
i think White does realise he should have treated the situation differently in hindsight, but i do not believe he did it for idealogical reasons, i may be wrong, but he treated schalk britz the same way and said he would pack his bags for him when pushed by Britz on his non-selection.
White was one of those ppl who was just as stubborn and was not going to be dictated to. Matfield and AJ were two other players White was very circumspect about, rightly or wrongly. He wanted ppl with a team ethic and buy-in imo.
27 Sep 2009, 21:59 pm
“White was one of those ppl who was just as stubborn and was not going to be dictated to.”
Thank goodness PdV learned that from JW.
27 Sep 2009, 22:04 pm
you say JW created a pariah setup that never got healed, but i still struggle to see what exactly he did to do this, all he did was not select someone who to your mind (and many others) should have been selected, the same could be said for schalk britz not so?
White left, PdV took over and selected Watson and was big mates with the family, and then what happened? White had nothing to do with what happened next. sorry, i don’t follow that.
On the hooker situation, interestingly JW at the time said he preferred his hookers to be of a certain type, i.e. he preferred liebenberg, who is in fact the current hooker and quite possibly one of the reasons WP are doing so well.
27 Sep 2009, 22:04 pm
David is quite correct. Watson was not only up against an arrogant egotist of a coach who could not be bigger than his own short sighted self righteousness, but he was up against the entire ideology of the players and the supporters of the game and fathers of the players he had to try and play alongside.
He was cast as the sh’t stirring enemy even before he took the field, and if he wasn’t a ja baas, nee baas, drie sakke vol baas *** licking adoring disciple like some these coaches want their players to be then he gets called a beer fetcher and all other manner of tripe to try divert the attention from the real issue at hand, that the coach and the ideological heritage they trying to promote is directly contrary to the attitudes they are pushing.
So Watson could not win under the prevailing circumstances just a pawn in the game between his father the political activist and the coach the stuck up egotist fool looking to promote his own self seeking agenda and losing handsomely in the process. Till E.J and that fortuitous WC came along.
27 Sep 2009, 22:07 pm
#118 batman:
its a quality you better have in SA rugby, cos you will meet stubborn hard-headed doffos like nowhere else. He’s just won the 3N in magnificent fashion and has been singled out by some group called TARC as a “traitor” to his country for not doing his bit on transformation. ridiculous.
27 Sep 2009, 22:09 pm
#115 batman:
I’m not talking about racism. I’m talking about the political polarity that exists in South Africa between black and white. How many white friends do you have that voted ANC in ’94, when service delivery couldn’t be used as an excuse? Why didn’t they vote ANC?
I’m just trying to point out a socialogical reason why Luke was a divisive influence. Not make accusations of racism.
27 Sep 2009, 22:11 pm
sharks would love to meet with wp in a semi or final at the tank.
but the bulls are such regular visits for finals and we really enjoy taking their cash.
27 Sep 2009, 22:13 pm
watson was never a **** licking drie sakke vol seun, he was completely the opposite, he was given elevated attention becuase of his family’s political ideology, and if Burger did not like him for his pushy nature, i feel that is quite understandable.
but my question remains, if it was just JW, why did PdV stop selecting him, surely he was not also influenced by this cabal?
27 Sep 2009, 22:15 pm
#122 David: no man david.
what does that have to do with luke white in 2009?
seriously man, 1994 and who people voted for is not really relevant here imo.
27 Sep 2009, 22:15 pm
TARC?
Jeez, just give the man credit. He won and it’s good enough for me.
27 Sep 2009, 22:16 pm
EJ came along for a ride, that was JW’s team completely, they were going to win the RWC regardless, it was an incredibly well prepared and crafted outfit – the professionalism of which increased exponentially with JWs takeover.
27 Sep 2009, 22:18 pm
watsons time has come and gone.
he will not be here for the next wc as he will be playing overseas and soes anyone seriously believe that he will be picked post 2011 as a starter for the boks?
i just hope cheeky’s gransons dont have to live with the same persecution complex.
27 Sep 2009, 22:19 pm
#125 rangerman: luke watson, sorry, the cricket is killing me.
27 Sep 2009, 22:22 pm
#125 rangerman:
I’m talking about a mindset. Luke was divisive because of his politics. The only reason I mentioned 1994 was to highlight a division between black and white South Africans.
27 Sep 2009, 22:25 pm
The real question i would like answered is whether a JW coached Bok team would beat a PdV coached Bok team?
27 Sep 2009, 22:27 pm
#128 rangerman: I hope Cheeky’s grand son’s don’t play rugby at all.
27 Sep 2009, 22:28 pm
#130 David: ok.
but surely you cant draw some kind of comparison between the general white view of the anc in 1994 and 2009 and use that as an analogy to explain luke watsons reception by the bok team without expecting a challenge?
imo its a bit of a stretch.
luke is divisive because of what HE does and says. not because of how black and white people voted in 1994 (when exercising their freedom of choice).
27 Sep 2009, 22:29 pm
sorry been talking with my son from Sweden on the phone so couldn’t follow the discussion. Looks like captain Graeme Smith won’t be able to steer the wallowing ship all alone while the wickets keep tumbling on the other side. Too bad they all folded like flies around him.
27 Sep 2009, 22:30 pm
#131 cab: i dont think so.
#132 batman: i wish them all the happiness in the world. may the sins of the father not impact on them.
27 Sep 2009, 22:31 pm
#131 cab:
I don’t think JW is a coach so much as a manager. Look at the Lions currently.
Anyway, I’m off to bed, ‘night guyd.
27 Sep 2009, 22:33 pm
anyway, i am out.
cheers all.
27 Sep 2009, 22:33 pm
#136 David:
LOL, thought you might have liked that one.
27 Sep 2009, 22:34 pm
#137 rangerman:
cheers ranger, good luck to the sharkies.
its tough to be no 1
27 Sep 2009, 22:34 pm
#135 rangerman: Sins?
Everybody deserves happiness, in fact, you are the architect of your own happiness, I believe anyway.
27 Sep 2009, 22:46 pm
its all such utter bullshit, where they should just get on with it, hell have a democratic election for the selections or get an independent 3rd umpire in from the UN without racial ideologies – just excuses, same as the referee, get on with it.
27 Sep 2009, 23:04 pm
how divisive is Luke Watson actually, only as divisive as those that cast him as divisive,
according to John Smit, Jake White, Schalk Burger and his dad, rangerman and cab, and possibly 80% of white south african rugby supporters, they believe Luke Watson is divisive and should go away and play his rugby in Bath. Yet how about those that play in the current team he captains, how about those that have been close enough to him to recognize the qualities that all those that were challenged by his strength of character or his so called divisiveness and value the qualities of his natural inborn mature leadership qualities.
So the damage due to the fear and ridicule that is the natural bugbear of South African rugby politics is such that Luke Watson will never perhaps be the leader of players that he might have been under other much more normal society standards.
I say Jake White was incredibly small minded under the circumstances and now we are faced with a situation where beyond John Smit there is no natural leadership succession plan in place and not even one remotely anywhere on the horizon because the beer fetching natural leader is off to play his rugby in Bath, due to the fact that Schalk Burger, John Smit and even Pdv regard the strong minded kid as a pariah divisive outcast who has no business playing rugby here with his peers.
Such is rangerman’s and most other white rugby followers ideological opinions of the guy even though they probably don’t know him from a bar of soap. Such is the nature of Sa Rugby’s fathom around divisiveness. They far prefer to foster divisiveness in this country than unification.
27 Sep 2009, 23:07 pm
Watson’s time with Bath will reveal a certain amount about how he gets on with others.
27 Sep 2009, 23:11 pm
#142 skopskiet:
well i’m actually ok to be cast into the box of 80% of white south africans for the purposes of this discussion, because i believe there is more to it, than simply political ideology. i believe i’m about as far removed from the average white south african as one could possibly get, but let us continue this straw man argument for what it is in any case, since i would like to see where my ideology falls short.
Watson is a divisive influence imo, he is so, becuase the incident with JW was not the first one, there have been innumerable incidents in the media, of which White is only one part. White’s sole indiscretion in this matter was making light of the non-selection of Watson.
White did not do this for political grounds or because he was born in germiston rather than the cape or because he does not like the ANC – no White did it, because he preferred larger more robust players.
In fact, my reasoning is supported by the Schalk Britz example as well as recently when he said he would not have picked Brussow. That is consistency, and its the reason he crafted such a powerful team and whose core remains today.
27 Sep 2009, 23:18 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7btxVEHrf0
Go to 3.34mins in – brilliant sound bite from PdV!
27 Sep 2009, 23:20 pm
Also, i’d be a bit reluctant to place judgement on white south africans and others so quickly. there are a few here, including the likes of rangerman that you have lumped a little too harshly, as you will notice by his response to my fishing query at 131.
whats more to the point actually, is there were alot of afr people that actually supported watson as a player, who’ve actually become totally turned off by him.
In fact, he also left the sharks under acromonious grounds well before he encountered White, and the sharks had their worst season in a decade with him at no 8.
27 Sep 2009, 23:20 pm
#144 cab: it certainly seems that way, his political message gets lost because he doesn’t appear to be a good politician, by that I mean he doesn’t know how to get on the right side of people and influence them from there. It seems he only knows how to protest, and that’s a fast way to upsetting the apple cart and alienating others. But that may all be perception, as I say it’ll be interesting to see how he gets on up here.
27 Sep 2009, 23:29 pm
#147 Big Hit:
yes, exactly, i do feel sorry for him, he is very intense principled young guy, but he needs a bit of charm. There is nothing the afr hates more than a whinger, and its good quality, its also a good quality that we have ppl that dont simply tow the party line such as watson, but my perception is that he does not tow it at all and that is the problem.
To be fair to him tho, he looks to have mellowed and even his captaincy is far more mature. I think his move to the UK will be a massive eye-opener and can only be good for him. He could well come back in a season or two and captain SA if he performs well. He is a natural leader, just got to learn to temper his wants.
27 Sep 2009, 23:29 pm
has anyone actually witnessed how Watson actually leads from the front with some distinction in the teams he leads. As captains go he is probably a thousand times more suitable to the task than Victor Matfield, Schalk Burger, Fdp and Chili Boy put together. Yet according to Jake White and many of those that simply see his political or ideological principles as abhorrant including John Smit, categorically state that Luke Watson without doubt is a divisive influence in whichever team he plays for. Bull dust he might have been somewhat divisive for Jake White because Jake White’s agenda was inconsistent with incorporating skillful small and headstrong tough players who don’t take authoritarian hog wash schoolmaster dictatorial coaching style as the gospel of rugby strategy. Jake White should have incorporated Luke Watson in his team in 2006 then Jake White would never have lost 49-0 and furthermore if Jake White was half the man manager he likes to think he was he would never have created a situation in a sport loving country where half the contingent or more hate the best captaincy candidates guts.
Jake White turned Luke Watson into the martyr pariah he is now. It was unnecessary and sure Watson had maybe as much to do with the showdown but certainly not all 29 himself. Another coach in another country would have utilized the kids talents for total positive input but here he was turned into a complete utter scape goat and surely for personal ego bent reasons not even ideological just plain and simply egoistic incompatibility.
27 Sep 2009, 23:34 pm
29 = by
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