Forward thinking
9 Jun 2010
Keo, in SA Rugby magazine, writes that Peter de Villiers should be appointed to a second successive term as Bok coach – and gives the blueprint that would make this appointment logical.
South African rugby’s future has never looked so secure. Careful management of and greater patience with players is non-negotiable to turn the prospect of long-term international dominance into the tangibles that come with Test wins and tournament successes.
This country is blessed with more natural talent than any other, New Zealand included, and the depth is spread across every position. There’s not a position in which South Africa suffers, but there’s a perception that we suffer in too many positions because the patience needed in developing players and allowing them to mature isn’t always applied.
Players too often have left this country disillusioned at the inconsistent provincial, regional and national selection policy, and this is the one curse of having so much talent. If there’s no immediate blossoming, coaches and selectors have turned to the next talent.
In countries not as fortunate to have South Africa’s playing base, coaches are judged on their ability to develop players as much as their team’s results.
Quade Cooper, the outstanding Reds flyhalf, is just one example of how a country with limited rugby union resources had to stick with what they had identified. Cooper played Super Rugby as a 19-year-old and played like a kid just out of school. His game lacked natural authority, there was no maturity and one act of brilliance was counter-balanced with three acts of schoolboy jitters.
The Australians didn’t panic because they couldn’t afford to. They kept on playing him and three years later he’s the sensation of the tournament, and he’s only 22 years old.
In the early- to mid-noughties our coaches were inspired by the way Australian Stephen Larkham played flyhalf, so they tried to find South Africa’s Stephen Larkham. There were many players of similar skill but lacking in experience. They weren’t given the time to develop and because they didn’t play like the veteran Stephen Larkham they were dismissed as pretenders. It was wrong and that kind of thinking will always be wrong.
Identification is critical to any strategy and in the next 10 years the greatest opponent South African rugby will face is itself. New Zealand will always be competitive and, in the right cycle, seemingly unbeatable. But the Kiwis have suffered like never before because of the overseas player exodus. It has not necessarily weakened the national team, but it has shredded the fabric of the country’s Super Rugby superiority.
It used to be a Super Rugby experience to win in New Zealand. Now with some teams it is considered a failure not to win at least half of their matches there. The quality of players leaving New Zealand is also of finer pedigree than the South African ones who have sought northern hemisphere salaries and the comfort of less intense domestic leagues.
South Africa’s game can maintain those seeking a European experience. New Zealand’s can’t, and that’s the biggest advantage South African rugby currently has over New Zealand. The lesser advantage is that our schools rugby structure is the best in the world and the production line of talent is endless.
Having the best recipe still doesn’t guarantee the best meal, and that’s why the dismantling of coaching and administrative egos has to be as ongoing as transformation. It can’t be an event; it has to be part of everyone’s contribution to a calmer, better and more honest South African game.
Springbok coach Pieter de Villiers, under pressure from politicians to include more black faces in the national squad, succumbed to the pressure and picked players not good enough to play in the midweek Bok squad last November.
The selections were blatant window-dressing and particularly sad because South African rugby has progressed in substance when it comes to a national game that includes anyone good enough to play it or have the passion to contribute to its health.
The selections and shocking subsequent results indicated that South African rugby lacked depth. The truth is more pleasing because between the Bulls, Stormers and Sharks, South Africa has three of the most powerful provinces in world rugby, and all three teams are well represented by the next generation, who have succeeded at junior level and are excelling in Super Rugby.
Add the handful of genuine national contenders playing in Europe and South Africa should be able to select two national run-on XVs of near equal strength. Previously, only New Zealand could do that and if they continue to exclude their offshore players they will never be in a position to do so again.
South African rugby has been spoilt by the player investment made in 2004 by then Springbok coach Jake White and his selectors. The Bok coach trusted youth and allowed this youth to grow up on the international field and not in domestic rugby. These players went on to win the World Cup and because of their youth many are still around to defend the title. Those new to the environment have walked into a culture of winning and excellence. It’s easier to prosper when you live in a house built with cement and not dressed up with colourful wallpaper.
The talent, though, is what makes South Africa the envy of everyone. No other country has as much international depth among wings, scrumhalves, loose forwards, locks and hookers.
Every country, bar Italy and Argentina, suffers for quality tightheads, but while they have these front-row Frankensteins, they have little else to trouble the more established teams.
South Africa’s talent has to be celebrated, and where there’s a feeling of anxiety, the perceived second-rate talent has to be coached and the decision to invest in a player who’s not the complete case study has to be supported with a desire to get the maximum out of his talent.
Bulls and Bok flyhalf Morné Steyn, playing a secondary role to Derick Hougaard at the Bulls, was never considered the all-round international package. He got a chance last year, kicked the most incredible pressure penalty in the series-winning Test against the British & Irish Lions and forced the selectors to play him. In a new environment, with different demands and philosophies he had not been exposed to, his game strengthened and he finished the season as one of the top three international flyhalves and definitely the most consistent wearing a No 10 jersey.
An early call has to be made on who’s good enough to play Test rugby, not just with an emphasis in 2011 but also 2015.
It’s possible to prepare for both World Cups in the next six months and doing so would also address the issue of player burnout and of getting the right players to be at their peak at the 2011 World Cup.
It won’t be a crime to lose a Test in the next six months if the planning is obvious and the identification is as definite. If De Villiers plays what is a team for the future in certain Tests, it has to include the type of players who have forced their way into Super Rugby at a young age or have the skills to replace a Test incumbent who won’t be around in England in 2015.
This season allows for selection identification with a difference; two squads for two World Cups and this also gives De Villiers an advantage should he want to continue post 2011. Having worked with the next tier of Test player for two years has to be a magnet to continued employment.
And I don’t think De Villiers should be judged simply on winning the World Cup. It’s too much of a lottery. His greater judgement should be from the players he picks, the quality of the rugby played, the improvement of the individual and results that bring more champagne than flat beer.
There’s enough in the current playing pool to alternate Test sides, but this can only be sold to the rugby public if there’s conviction that when Victor Matfield, John Smit and Bryan Habana, for example, don’t play, the three who replace them will be there in 2015.
Playing rugby in South Africa and coaching South Africa has never been as exciting. The demands and expectation will never allow for mediocrity and failure at the expense of building, but in this country we don’t need to build or transform and expect to fail.
White proved it when he selected nine black players in his match 22 that beat a full-strength Wallabies side 33-20 at Ellis Park in 2005. The Bok line-up, laughed off as a political gesture to former president Nelson Mandela, led 33-8 and with a bit more experience could have put 50 past the Wallabies.
The failure of that victory was how few of those nine black players made it to the World Cup two years later. De Villiers has a test case he can refer to and learn from.
Black players in this country win South Africa more Tests than they have ever lost and when the right young white and black players have been identified, played and trusted, they have not failed.
There’s so much to be bullish about this international season, but it’s what can be assembled as a national squad for 2015 that is even more powerful than the very good squad De Villiers will take to defend the title in New Zealand in 2011. No other country can say that.
– This article first appeared in the June issue of SA Rugby magazine
267 Comments
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9 Jun 2010, 09:43 am
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-50:
Agree.
In my opinion, Maku has now moved past Chilliboy, and they are rougly of a similar age.
9 Jun 2010, 09:48 am
#51
#50
Maku and Chilly will only rotate each other as second choices.
None of them will get a chance, if it is not enforced.
Last year chilly was 2nd and Derrick 1st.
if botha is injured than khun becomes 1st choice
9 Jun 2010, 09:50 am
Its nice reading through all these comments and sittin back reviewing them all. Not everyone did, want to or will acept PDV as the coach just like not everyone will agree as to who the best candidates for the ultimate springbok team must be. One thing is certain though, and that is that PDV is the springboks’s head coach. Like it or not whether there is speculation tha he is immature and not deservant of the position, he is curently the most admired(amongst his peers) international coach in world rugby.
As for our up an coming player, yes they must be nurtured, all of them! Black, white and coloured!
One must never forget it’s one thing to say or claim that we are living in a non racial society but another to shake the legacy of the past. I believe that every non-white player chosen in the spring.
I love my rugby and will always support every south african team representing my country in a match whether thae team is all white or not!
It’s just sorry to see that most people complaining about the team are white!
9 Jun 2010, 09:50 am
@adi(adi)-52:
That should tell you something, shouldn’t it…
9 Jun 2010, 09:51 am
@adi(adi)-52:
Most second choice players will not get an opportunity unless enforced through injury or player availibility and/or rotation policies.
9 Jun 2010, 09:52 am
@SouthAfrican(SouthAfrican)-53:
Well, we certainly don’t complain that Habana or Gurthro is in the team. In fact, we are excited by their inclusion.
There is a message in that, too.
9 Jun 2010, 09:52 am
This point of KEO’s is hi-lighted in the flyhalf position. We never give the guys a chance to develop and hence its always the position we struggle to find depth in and unfortunately its the most NB position in a rugby side.
Very surprised to hear KEO saying that dV should stay on after…
9 Jun 2010, 09:52 am
Look at all the whites supporting Bafana ..with only 1 white player …. why can’t the ppl of colour (like Rosseneri) support a rugby team with only 2-3 coloured/black players?
9 Jun 2010, 09:52 am
@Tacitus(Tacitus)-51:
I rate Bandise Maku quite highly.
Chilliboy unfortunately is a lost cause, and SA Rugby must cut its losses.
9 Jun 2010, 09:53 am
#54
All people are equal, but white people are still more equal than blacks
9 Jun 2010, 09:54 am
@adi(adi)-60:
Really? Jacob Maroga will be much more equal than me once he gets his R85 mil.
9 Jun 2010, 09:57 am
@sglazer(sglazer)-16:
Oregan did say PDV was appointed for “reasons other than rugby”.
You sound like Keo yesterday putting words in people’s mouth. Hoskins said that reasons other than rugby were ALSO taken into account when PdV was appointed.
You now makes it sound as if the “reasons other than rugby” were the only criteria used with his appointment.
Not true.
9 Jun 2010, 09:57 am
tacitus
Im not sure the future captain is Dewald….from what i see in his games, he’s not a brainiac, but than again i see dat in Schalk also..and he hasnt done a bad job at weepee..
I like a captain with a thinking head on his shoulders like Victor, or john…
i dunno who’ll be future captain…maybe he’s still playin under 21…or maybe it’ll be a senior who didnt retire from international duties? Untill they see who teh young man will be to stand in the shoes of Vic and John…my cents
9 Jun 2010, 09:58 am
@58 People of colour? You are one naive individual! Why should we be happy with any number of non-white players! Those in the bok camp are there on merit! Accept it or move to Australia!
9 Jun 2010, 09:59 am
#61
R85million is nothing in comparison to your apartheid billions stacked away.
You could buy a country for yourself
9 Jun 2010, 10:02 am
South African … wtf ?? January & Chilli there on merit? tell that to G Botha and Liebenberg …. or Kockott/Vermaak .
9 Jun 2010, 10:02 am
@adi(adi)-65:
Ag tog. Ek gaan maar liewer nie verder met hierdie knaap gesels nie. Ek sien daar is ‘n Mount Olympus sized chip op daardie skouer.
Terug na die rugby.
9 Jun 2010, 10:02 am
@adi(adi)-65:
Don’t generalise now.
Otherwise your extremism means you become exactly that which you detest.
9 Jun 2010, 10:09 am
As long as politics stay away from the game, Boks future looks bright. How much bright – it depends.
9 Jun 2010, 10:09 am
Look there is alot of players who were in contention for bok caps, but there is only place for so many. And we can only send 22 to play. As for Kockott, Vermaak and co. they must remember, even when you play in a bad side you must still shine your light! Jaques Forie did it when he played for the Lions.
9 Jun 2010, 10:11 am
#67
I thought this site was about rugby, but i learned from you. What has Jacob got to do with the Bks
#68
It was meant at tacticus
Whether you like it or not PDV are the head coach. His got his players he believes in.
Rather channel your energy to suppoting the boks
9 Jun 2010, 10:13 am
Share the view Potgieter being future Bok captain
Classy player and guy
Reckon he has the abilities to deal with the unique responsibilities of being SA captain
Pleased young talent is being rewarded and groomed in the form of Flip, Potgieter, Flo, De Jongh, Hougaard (when fit)
Personally not to certain bout Aplon and Hargreaves
Never thought i’d say this, also pleased for Olivier
Has worked hard for his chance
Well deserved opportunity
9 Jun 2010, 10:14 am
@adi(adi)-71:
May I refer you to your post #60 and it’s enlightened social commentary?
9 Jun 2010, 10:16 am
@heita(heita)-72:
The reason I think Potgieter will be captain is that Div has already picked him to captain the Emerging Boks, and has mentioned in public how much guys like Potgieter are able to lift those around them with their belief and inspirational presence.
Personally I would like Potgieter to add a few kilos of bulk, but it seems he does not lack in leadership quality.
9 Jun 2010, 10:17 am
@Tacitus(Tacitus)-74:
I, for one, think Dewaldt Potgieter will be a much better captain for the Bulls than Victor.
Victor to me has always seemed to be a reluctant captain.
9 Jun 2010, 10:18 am
@Tacitus(Tacitus)-74:
Could be mistaken, think Potgieter has captained at just about every level (barring the Bulls) he has played at
9 Jun 2010, 10:21 am
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-75:
Now, let’s not stretch the praise for the young man TOO far.
9 Jun 2010, 10:25 am
Hi Guys
have not commented for a while but have been reading posts. (articles are a joke)
Tac, i see you now support our coach. Well done buddy. I believe that he will continue to suprise us going forward.
One day when we sit back and reflect will we understand what he meant to the team at his appointed time. [those in denial will then still spew forth their drivel from the comforts of Australia or the UK
]
on the captaincy issue. I was at Orlando stadium for the S14 final. Victor has shown incredible leadership for Bulls. I reckon we would not be wealker if he take the boks to the WC. (I am a great fan of Smit, but his play needs to start improving – Bismarck is waiting in the wings)
Vic could then captain the side for a year or 2 after the WC and hand over. I am worried that no-one currently is showing that leadership potential. (will keep my eye on Potgieter and his progress at the Bulls)
9 Jun 2010, 10:25 am
I guess Dewald Potgieter has good leadership abilities, but I’m not so sure that his rugby playing abilities can match that. He has looked impressive with a Bulls pack which has dominated most of the games in this year’s S14, but he doesn’t seem like a match-winner to me. His “good” at everything he does, makes a couple of tackles a game, but doesn’t have that X-factor you need at test level. Bit of a jack of all trades, master of ….
9 Jun 2010, 10:27 am
@WP Till I Die(WP-Forever)-75: i must say my thinking of the best captain has changed this year.
IMO Vic is the best captain in SA…regarding leadership, example and commitment as well as current form.
there were numerous opportunities for this Bulls side to slip up but he held them together on the field. I toured with them down under in the S14 and his imput impressed me.
believe me when i tell you he is highly rated in the bok team as a captain….. although he isn’t the bok captain.
honestly this guy has impressed me…
my 2 cents.
9 Jun 2010, 10:28 am
@Frankly speaking(Frankly speaking)-79:
That is a fair comment. The ideal is to have your captain be the best in his position in the world. Like NZ’s Richie Mccaw, and the Bulls Victor Matfield.
Unfortunately, the Boks cannot say the same at the moment.
9 Jun 2010, 10:30 am
@Staal(Staal)-80:
I’ll take your word for it. I don’t doubt that he’s a hell of a nice guy.
9 Jun 2010, 10:32 am
For me John Smit remains our best captain
At present seems very fatigued
Difficult to identify best time to rest him
Loss of Fourie Du Preez and Juan Smith has huge effect on team spine
To rest Smit at this time would further remove the spine of the team with a tough 3N fixture list ahead – we start in NZ
In retrospect Boks before region
Smit should have rested during Super 14
9 Jun 2010, 10:33 am
@heita(heita)-83: some good points there.
9 Jun 2010, 10:37 am
@SouthAfrican(SouthAfrican)-70:
You know what I do not share that view.
Logically obviously there is only so many places available in a team, but your structures allows you to create depth and even more so, quality in depth.
The trick again is to create an environment where once you have included a player in your structures, that it is almost impossible for him to leave those structures.
You get that through proper planning and management, mapping out player careers and offering security in an environment and profession as risky as rugby.
The risks of these structures if done correctly then does not only become a monetary issue (players moving for more money) as the value attached to those structures exceeds simple monetary requirements or needs. This happens in business everyday.
Some people will always only move for monetary reasons (I did when I was young) but for most part, the more successful individuals when they are more mature start assessing their careers as to the total value your working environment provides and the security it offers.
The Bulls are getting this right.
9 Jun 2010, 10:37 am
Apartheid billions?
That must have been “forward thinking”…
9 Jun 2010, 10:40 am
@grant10(grant10)-14:
Perhaps, maybe not…Brussow only really started to make a name for himself in 2008.
9 Jun 2010, 10:49 am
barney should take the rest of the year off after the trinations…
He should me played of the bench for the second half of the super 15, spending the first half getting his condiitioning right.
Same goes for victor ludorum.
9 Jun 2010, 10:49 am
There are many people who believe that if talent is identified, that if you persist with developinbg this talent at ‘Bok level, that it will rise up. Take Quade Cooper. ****, but had potential, now getting there.
Many people (including PDV) feel that way about Chilli (right or wrong).
I cast my mind back to Makhaya Ntini. I didn;t feel that his initial selection was on merit, as many did, but he had potential and with time became a great and indispensible part of the team. I hope that by persisting with Chilli we get that same result. I know that there are differences in the comparison but you get my point.
9 Jun 2010, 10:50 am
3. straight talk(Chris Coetzer) :
June 9th, 2010 at 6:23 am
Skopskiet for next bok coach -
and SA rugby heads back to the chaos days of Strauli and Viljoen
9 Jun 2010, 10:51 am
@SouthAfrican(SouthAfrican)-53:
I think perhaps he would love to be seen as controversial, but with good results of course…it’s going well so far.
@Tacitus(Tacitus)-49:
Why Potgieter? IYO? Other than captaining the EBs
@PissAnt(PissAnt)-43:
Perhaps if Heyneke Meyer were chosen, these wouldn’t be a problem?
9 Jun 2010, 10:55 am
geez i dunno about certain assumptions of this article, such as we dont struggle for any worldclass talent in certain positions (3 and 4) and that our schoolboy talent and structures are the best – far as i know nz win the u 19 world cup regularly and france and england klapped us last year. i also dont really believe oz or nz ;develop; their players, they pick on merit and form and talent, same as anyone else. i also dont care what rugby is played or players picked for the rwc, provided they win, that is the coach;s job, winning is his sole yardstick.
But i do agree with the currrent crop of player depth, it would be nice to see if an alternative younger sqaud can be developed while resting the veteran boks to be ready for 2011 – tho tolerating a few losses is easier said than done, i doubt most will tolerate losses fullstop, that is a fact of Springbok rugby. When the Boks lose pressure builds on the coach;s job and his job is to win test matches, not just world cups.
9 Jun 2010, 10:55 am
22. Staal(Staal) :
For once I agree with you Staal
9 Jun 2010, 10:56 am
@Agile T*t-Tyrant(Anairetes agilis)-91:
As National Director of Rugby?
For sure, it is what I have been saying for 3 years now.
9 Jun 2010, 10:59 am
“White proved it when he selected nine black players in his match 22 that beat a full-strength Wallabies side 33-20 at Ellis Park in 2005. The Bok line-up, laughed off as a political gesture to former president Nelson Mandela, led 33-8 and with a bit more experience could have put 50 past the Wallabies”
Solly Tyibilika was Man of the Match for the second consecutive game, head to head with George Smith, the other game being Sharks vs Brumbies, yet, once again the SA system spat him out
9 Jun 2010, 11:02 am
to be fair Solly Tyibilika ruined his career by himself
9 Jun 2010, 11:03 am
They are going to have to rest Smit after the 3n’s until the Northern Hemispher tour and maybe through it as well.
No Currie Cup for him please, nor for Victor, maybe even Schalk, even though he has rested a bit due to injury in the last year or so – more than Smit at least.
Juan has had some enforced rest this last year, we need him in top form come WC – still love this guy.
I really rate FLO and actually liked the back 3 we used against Wales. They are good enough to be used in the NH tour later this year.. They need test experience anyway – apart from Big Joe – but he need test game time.
I just hope our coaches have the balls to rest our most over-played players.
9 Jun 2010, 11:06 am
I agree with you Pissant – Jake for Director of SA Rugby – the man is pure rugby genius.
My f’ing hero to be honest
The man took SA rugby from the scraps to the top of the pile – and still many moronic SA supporters can’t appreciate it.
Smit as well, still unappreciated after 94 tests. Too many dimwits around.
9 Jun 2010, 11:07 am
96. quotas_sux(quota_conrad_jantjies_is_jorrie_muller) :
June 9th, 2010 at 11:02 am
to be fair Solly Tyibilika ruined his career by himself
100% agree
9 Jun 2010, 11:08 am
@ 95. XHOSAKID(XHOSAKID)
Solly Tyibilika has a bad history with management at his former unions. I remember when he was contracted by the Lions, he often missed team practises, yet still expected to be picked Saturdays.
He’s got only himself to blame for his demise as he had more chances with the sharks and Boks than a lot of other players could dream of didn’t take them.
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