‘There are a lot of regrets’
22 Sep 2010
Solly Tyibilika went from Test to First Division rugby in less than a year and a half. GRANT BALL, writing in SA Rugby magazine, finds out what went wrong.
Solly Tyibilika’s descent from being a Springbok to playing for one of the poorest teams in the country has been rapid. At the start of 2007, he was thinking of a World Cup place. A year later he was preparing for the Vodacom Cup with what is essentially a semi-professional union, Border.
In 2007, Tyibilika was on a R700 000-a-year contract with the Lions. In 2009, the Border Rugby Union operated on a monthly budget of R200 000 for all their players. However, he doesn’t regret the move.
‘I had a two-year deal at the Lions,’ he says, ‘but I didn’t want to stay for the second one. Those guys like to change what they tell the media.’
Where did it go wrong for the 31-year-old? Capped eight times for the Boks – four of which were against New Zealand and Australia – he played his last Test in the calamitous 45-26 hammering at the hands of the All Blacks at Loftus in 2006. With Schalk Burger out with a neck injury, coach Jake White had called Tyibilika the best opensider in the country a week before the match, but axed him in the aftermath and he was never to play for the Boks again.
Ask Tyibilika where it went wrong, and he says a lack of game time afforded to him by his provincial coaches was the problem. But it’s a bit more complicated than that.
He left the Sharks at the end of 2006, as they had loose forwards Jacques Botes, Warren Britz, Keegan Daniel, Ryan Kankowski and Bob Skinstad on their books, and joined the Lions, a move he regrets to this day.
When I meet with Tyibilika in East London the day before South Africa are to play Italy, he says seeing the Boks walking around the team’s beachfront hotel made him think about what could have been.
‘There are a lot of regrets, my man,’ he says, shaking his head. ‘I’m not pointing fingers, but I shouldn’t have moved to the Lions. But the Sharks, they had many good players.
‘I didn’t get game time at the Lions. If I was to have had any chance of playing for the Springboks under Jake, who was still backing me, I had to get game time. I just wanted to play. The more you play, the more you learn. I was looking for game time anywhere.’
In the build-up to the 2007 World Cup, there was repeated talk about the make-up of the 30-man Springbok squad and how many black African players would have to be included. If Tyibilika had produced a decent run of form, he would probably have gone to France.
Tyibilika was used in a couple of warm-up games in the Lions’ 2007 pre-season, but didn’t play for them for the first half of the year. Baywatch Grobbelaar, Ernst Joubert and Willem Alberts were initially deemed better starting options, and Tyibilika couldn’t keep out of the headlines – for the wrong reasons.
‘Solly goes AWOL’, ‘Solly goes AWOL again’ was the general theme. Lions coach Loffie Eloff said Tyibilika missed training with the Super 14 side three times, so he was dropped to the Vodacom Cup team. He then went missing when he returned to his home town of Port Elizabeth, with Saru and the Lions left to track him down. He was later relegated to playing club rugby for Wits and at the time, Tyibilika issued a formal apology to the union for missing practices and admitted his attitude was not in the spirit of the game.
However, three years later Tyibilika is in no mood for apologies.
‘I was the fittest loose forward when I arrived at the Lions, but when the squad for the Super 14 overseas tour was announced, I wasn’t in it. I had to automatically go to the Vodacom Cup side – as you would do at any union – but when I went there, the coach [Ian McDonald] said he didn’t know anything about me having to play for him. I went to training, but wasn’t in his plans because Loffie didn’t tell him to play me.
‘I asked him to please just give me game time, because the senior coach [Eloff] had promised me that he would then play me when they came back. But it never happened.
‘I wasn’t playing and I didn’t know what to do. My former club in PE was up in Joburg for an Easter rugby tournament, so I thought maybe I should play for them. The last time I’d played before that was in January during the two warm-up games, when I was subbed midway through. That was a big thing for the Lions. They asked me why I was playing for a club from another province. It was because I didn’t have a club in Joburg – I’d just come from Durban – and I hadn’t been given an opportunity with the Vodacom Cup team. I just needed game time, but the Lions were more negative towards me after that.
‘The reason I eventually left the Lions was because of the coach [Eloff]. He wasn’t honest with me – he lied to me. I would be going to training, but he’d say through the media that I had gone AWOL – I just couldn’t understand it. I was there for rugby and to get opportunities because I wanted to go to the World Cup.
‘Loffie never explained to me why I didn’t get game time. He was never open with me. Coaches stick to their plan, and I wasn’t a part of his. But when he bought me from the Sharks, he said I was part of the plan.’
After a controversial start to 2007, Tyibilika then injured his shoulder in the Currie Cup – where he was given game time – and then with his World Cup dream over, he again failed to attend practices. When he was relegated to the Vodacom Cup squad at the beginning of 2008, Tyibilika was clearly disillusioned and decided he would cut short his contract with the Lions.
For many Springboks, 2007 was an unforgettable year. For Tyibilika, it was unforgettable for all the wrong reasons.
He is currently in his third season in East London and life is very different to playing for bigger unions like the Sharks or Lions. With no sponsors, Border are struggling off the field and things aren’t much better on it – they didn’t win a single game in the Vodacom Cup. For those players who live on the outskirts of East London, even travelling to practices is a challenge.
‘Only 13 or 14 members of our entire squad are contracted,’ says Tyibilika. ‘The rest – who have other jobs – only get a match fee. We can also only have our practices after they’ve finished work at 5pm, so we train in the dark.
‘The guys who live in the townships have difficulty getting home as the taxis don’t run at night. We really need a sponsor to bring about change.
‘At the end of every Currie Cup, we lose players because all the cream gets bought by other unions. There’s no money here. Either the players take other offers, or they stop playing. We do get money from Saru, but that grant isn’t as much as it used to be.
It isn’t possible for players to earn salaries of R25 000 or R30 000 a month, for example, which is what other provincial players are being paid.’
Tyibilika has since fleetingly shown his ability at the top level, the last example being when he played for the Southern Kings against the British & Irish Lions last year.
He was one of two Border players selected, along with reserve scrumhalf Josh Fowles, but says that while it was a memorable day for the region, Border haven’t reaped any of the rewards.
He also isn’t overly enthused by Saru’s promises that the region will have a Super Rugby franchise.
‘I’m not sure what goes on there in terms of the administration,’ he says. ‘Each day is a different story. After the Kings-Lions match, everyone said things would be better in terms of money, but we haven’t seen any of it and there’s been no change. We need sponsors to get quality players.’
Ironically, as the topic turns to the Kings, someone who is willing to comment on their future arrives at the table where we’re sitting. Dumile Mateza, a rugby commentator during the 1995 World Cup, greets Tyibilika with a handshake, a hug, and ‘Solly, you look exactly like your father’. Mateza then goes straight into his views on the Kings’ problems.
‘I was arguing with [Saru deputy president] Mark Alexander the other day about the Kings,’ Mateza says to Tyibilika. ‘They can’t be run by amateur organisations like the EP and Border unions, they must be driven by a group of businessmen in order to make it a viable organisation. There’s no way a president of an amateur rugby body can run it professionally. They must run the amateur side of things and then put in rugby structures, and we [the businessmen] must bring in the money and run it.
‘We are saying to Saru that the Kings must be run by a group of black businessmen if they’re serious about transformation. Saru will get more credibility if they do that rather than the way they’re pussy-footing around now.’
As for Tyibilika’s credibility, it took a dent in April this year. After captaining the side, he was dropped for Border’s match against Boland because he missed practices. Border coach David Maidza axed Tyibilika for that game and took the captaincy away because he felt he wasn’t setting a good enough example for the younger players.
‘Missing that practice was down to miscommunication,’ says Tyibilika. ‘I had sent our manager an SMS telling him I was away for the Easter weekend and that I’d only be back on the Monday afternoon. No one told me we were practising on Monday morning, and I couldn’t get back as I was using public transport. The manager only told the coach in the afternoon.
‘They told me they were going to drop me but they’d play me again as long as I went to training. I played the following week.’
When I ask Tyibilika what advice he would give to black players trying to make the step up to professional rugby, he seems oblivious to the irony of his response.
‘I think there are many talented black guys, but if you’re not completely disciplined, that’s another thing.’
– This article first appeared in the September issue of SA Rugby magazine
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41 Comments
22 Sep 2010, 13:02 pm
well i presume you have a long ******* solly, sometimes salvation bro
22 Sep 2010, 13:04 pm
Interesting article, though a tad bit slanted in the end. Remain impartial Grant.
22 Sep 2010, 13:13 pm
Cheeky Watson is managing the Kings and he is doing a great job so far. Who is Dumile Mateza? What can he offer?
Solly’s rise and fall were at a similar rate. Avge Currie Cup player at best.
22 Sep 2010, 13:13 pm
I also remember White famously accusing SA Rugby of not backing him when he was forced to select Solly for one 3N game which, if I am not mistaken, was against NZ straight after the 49-0 hammering in Brisbane in 2006?
Solly made mistakes and acknowledge this, but I can see how a player like him, or any black player can become disillusioned given how they are treated and paraded by coaches and administration in SA Rugby.
So sad.
22 Sep 2010, 13:14 pm
solly was / is a decent player…..but was never in the class of Luke Watson…..during that time period anyway.
22 Sep 2010, 13:15 pm
I also remember White famously accusing SA Rugby of not backing him when he was forced to select Solly (for transformation reasons) for one 3N game which, if I am not mistaken, was against NZ straight after the 49-0 hammering in Brisbane in 2006?
22 Sep 2010, 13:18 pm
Jury is still out as to whether he was the best opensider at the time, but a sad fall from grace nonetheless
22 Sep 2010, 13:53 pm
Very interresting. A career very badly managed i’d say. Pity.
22 Sep 2010, 13:56 pm
This site’s been up and down a few times today. What’s going on?
22 Sep 2010, 13:57 pm
Whatever whinger – show up for training and you will stand a chance of getting picked.
Over-hyped player,can think of at least 6 flanks during the ’06 season who were much better than him.
22 Sep 2010, 14:06 pm
That just show the pathetic racist nature of Loffie! Dirtbag!
22 Sep 2010, 14:07 pm
loffie eloff is a twatstick.
that said sollibyka seems to miss more practices than a pregnant cheerleader.
22 Sep 2010, 14:07 pm
Totally against the spirit of transformation!
22 Sep 2010, 14:12 pm
Ag jinne now I’m being moderated again…..
22 Sep 2010, 14:15 pm
You’re marked man!
22 Sep 2010, 14:26 pm
Last time I saw the poll, it was 177 who said yes to freedom!
22 Sep 2010, 14:30 pm
Moderate this MOFOS…
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(’(…´…´…. ¯~/’…’)
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22 Sep 2010, 14:30 pm
This one will look better:
…………………./´¯/)
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……..(’(…´…´…. ¯~/’…’)
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22 Sep 2010, 14:31 pm
They are moderating my smiley
22 Sep 2010, 14:33 pm
There will be no smiling, responding to specific comments or such. You may however, post obscene insults, racially abuse one another and talk absolute nonsense.
22 Sep 2010, 15:26 pm
Got to feel for the guy but then life is tough. What is the truth, well, it’s a shame. Mind if he was any good, someone would have picked him up?
22 Sep 2010, 15:38 pm
What went wrong?? Solly should never have become a Bok because he has never been more than average currie cup player NO MORE!!! just like Bobo, Shimange and Sephaka.
22 Sep 2010, 15:43 pm
Wynand Olivier, Morne Stain, Jorrie Muller, CJ van der Linde, Kanko, Louis Koen and many more
22 Sep 2010, 15:53 pm
why is my comment awaiting moderation? Why?!!
22 Sep 2010, 15:54 pm
Eish, thees site, she is brokken…
22 Sep 2010, 15:56 pm
@Transie
You can say what you want, but just don’t use the reply button. Automatic Moderate.
22 Sep 2010, 16:02 pm
Call me crazy, but I think he should have hired an agent. All first class players should do this. If he did do this, then his agent must have been pretty bad.
22 Sep 2010, 16:27 pm
I hate it when a player fails and they blame the union or coach for their failure.In this case Solly clearly had a problem going to training (and evidently still does) and then expects Loffie to pick him???
Is he nuts? – obviously any coach is going to pick the player who does not let him down and is reliable.
At any level of rugby,the understanding is if you come to practice you stand a chance of playing.
Solly shot himself in the foot and now he’s shooting his mouth off!
22 Sep 2010, 16:36 pm
He had one major problem..no heart. If a rugby player misses training period, he needs to hang up his boots and change careers.
22 Sep 2010, 17:01 pm
thanks stormerseun:
Watson: I support transformation
Bok reject Luke Watson does not want to be
perceived as a “victim” of transformation.
On Monday, Bok coach Jake White said he
could not include the Vodacom Western
Province captain in the team ahead of
Saturday ’s clash against the All Blacks,
because “we need to be honest about the
sensitivities of the make-up of the team.”
“We have got a guy like Solly [Tyibilika] and
we need to show that transformation is
happening in our country, ” White said.
Watson said he had not been distracted by
the massive controversy and was
concentrating on Western Province ’s match
against the Valke in Brakpan tomorrow.
“I don’t want to be seen as a victim of
transformation,” he told the Cape Times on
Thursday. “I’m a child and supporter of
transformation.”
He did, however, praise SA U21 coach Peter
de Villiers for his contribution to
transformation. Should White quit or be
fired, De Villiers would be one of the
frontrunners for the job.
This entry was posted on Thursday, July
20th, 2006
22 Sep 2010, 17:03 pm
bladdy agents
22 Sep 2010, 22:25 pm
“…coach Jake White had called Tyibilika the best opensider in the country a week before the match, but axed him in the aftermath and he was never to play for the Boks again…”
Doesn’t that just have the hallmark of Jake White stamped all over it?
23 Sep 2010, 00:46 am
one can accuse Solly of a lot of things which he might be guilty of,but having no heart nor being AVG CC player he wasn’t.Fact
In his 1st yr at Sharks in 03 he was a revelation,was Sharks CC player of the yr & players player of the yr.Also was one of nominees in SA Rugby awards
In 2004 he was the only Sharks fwd worth anything in dismal S14 campaign.he & Piensar were Sharks only shining lights.
Made his Bok debut in 04 he was outstanding on debut Test scored a double if I’m
not mistaken.To this day never played a bad game in a Bok jumper.(oh & by the way Big Joe played 6 in 49-0 game vs Aus)
In 05 he had a solid yr for Sharks,was a consummate performer in team.one of first names on team sheet.Had his best game/half ever for Bok that yr vs Oz at Loftus.was ALL over Oz at breakdown,made 15 tackles before halftime.then was strangely substituted by White at halftime.Put in a monster hit on Tuqiri b4 halftime-who shrugging off all tacklers at will.
In 06 wheels came off,Bok rugby was in a shambles,relationship with Sharks & Muir became strained plus he had his own discipline problems which I think were blown way out of proportion.I remember how everyone supported Rassie when stories of cocaine use surfaced in 01…how that was just buried.
Rest is history
23 Sep 2010, 01:21 am
mshini..can i pay you to write contemporary rugby history sbali? For the KIDS mfowethu!
23 Sep 2010, 02:44 am
Transie
Eish sbali ayikho into engay’thanda than to have rugby publications angatshekile/non-biased .labantu baqamba amanga njalo,bazame ukubhala abadlali babo phakathi kumabhokobhoko(latest:Hougaard) etc bajike bakhohlwe iqiniso.wonke umuntu uyazi ukuthi kumaLions akukho lutho esp for umuntu omnyama.Ian MacD and his lapdog uncle Tom Timmy Goodwin bayizinja.common thread throughout union.Ngifisa uMjekevu noJantjes basuke before bafake diluted talents like Boshoff,Kruger ahead again.
23 Sep 2010, 03:48 am
Just another example at why quota’s do not work. It enforces the player to think he should be ‘awarded’ game-time but in reality doesn’t cut it… not one of the three overseas clubs he applied for would take him.
23 Sep 2010, 07:51 am
The problem for any loose forward is that South Africa has an abundance of good loose forwards and that any loose forward is
going to find it difficult if he is not in top form to get into the starting 15.
He should have stayed with the Sharks even if it was to get 10-15 minutes from the bench, far better than 80 at Vodacom Cup
level.
23 Sep 2010, 08:00 am
i really rated solly when he was at the sharks.
the poor guy even admits he should never have left.
but his discipline issues seem to be a problem wherever he is.
what a waste of a talent.
23 Sep 2010, 09:27 am
Most overrated Quota player. Baywatch , Kabamba, Jacques Botes , Wikus Van Heerden , Luke Watson, Keegan Daniel.
Was he ever really better than any of those players, did he even show more ability ?
Not a chance in hell. This reminds me of Isma-eel Dollie. Another player who didn’t make it, but because he wasn’t white and was talented at age group level we all have to feel sorry and sympathetic. ***** that
23 Sep 2010, 13:09 pm
I thought Solly showed a lot of potential.
But SA Rugby is a ruthless and savage beast.
24 Sep 2010, 14:56 pm
@TheTackler(TheTackler)-32:
Only stamp on Jake White is that elusive RWC that you Kiwis just can’t seem to pin down…even with Henry..
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