Os axing exposes back-room chaos
3 Mar 2011
JON CARDINELLI says the South African management malady continues to detract from the Springboks’ reputation and will affect their 2011 World Cup campaign.
The evidence keeps stacking up faster than Saru can sweep it under the carpet. The organisation is clueless when it comes to handling the coaching staff, and the recent axing of scrum coach Os du Randt has shown that very little has changed since the tempestuous period before the 2010 end-of-year-tour.
Head coach Peter de Villiers made a move to replace his assistants, Gary Gold and Dick Muir, by travelling around the country to find alternatives. It later emerged that every big name in South African coaching had turned him down, and he was forced to go back to Gold and Muir and apologise.
Gold and Muir went on tour with Boks, and despite reports of De Villiers’ treacherous travels, Saru claimed Gold and Muir were never in the firing line. Nevertheless, there was a sense that not all was right among De Villiers, Gold and Muir, nor would it ever be as good as when they won the 2009 British & Irish Lions series and the 2009 Tri-Nations. It was a falling out that boded badly for the World Cup.
The latest in the Bok management saga is that Os Du Randt has been shafted. The scrum coach has been trying to get De Villiers on the phone for months in an attempt to discuss his contract. He eventually received an email from Saru saying his services would no longer be required and his contract would not be renewed.
Financial problems have been mentioned as reasons for Du Randt’s axing, although you have to wonder about the communication between Du Randt and Saru. Du Randt said the axing came as a complete surprise, and that he had already rented out his farm and bought a new house because as far as he knew, he was going to the World Cup. He had also ignored some lucrative offers from abroad because he was committed to the Boks.
Sadly, Saru has not shown as much commitment to the two-time World Cup winner, and have taken no steps to clarify their position since the news of Du Randt’s axing broke on Tuesday.
And as far as the financial problems are concerned, you have to ask where Saru will find the cash to pay a replacement. Rassie Erasmus is rumoured to be in talks with Saru about a possible technical adviser position, with Eddie Jones having already rejected an offer to join the Boks. Neither are scrum specialists, though, so this position will still need to be filled.
Finding a quality replacement won’t be easy. While most coaches would consider it an honour to be associated with a team packed with decorated and experienced players, not many will have the stomach to put up with the chaos behind the Bok scenes. As last October’s situation with the assistant coaches highlighted and as the Du Randt axing has shown, you just never know when your number’s up.
Du Randt’s contributions turned the misfiring Bok scrum of 2009 into a competitive unit in 2010. It will be interesting to see how his departure impacts on the players from a mentoring perspective. He plays a big role in the scrumming department, but he is also an inspirational figure within the team set up.
At this late date, one wonders how Saru will attract quality candidates for positions like scrum coach, and whether the omission of Du Randt will further impact on the strained relationship between De Villiers and his assistants.
One thing’s for certain, another controversy and incident of mistrust is the last thing Saru needs in a World Cup year. De Villiers has enjoyed some success during his tenure despite a mass of off-field controversies, but you have to believe that sooner or later, these embarrassments are going to cost the Boks big.
554 Comments
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7 Mar 2011, 11:09 am
When are Safru going to make decisions in the interest of Springbok rugby ? Its hard enough to win world cups without being stabbed in the back by oregan and his brainless,petulant chommies.For the first time since since isolation our scrum has owned all their opponents.Os was clearly doing something very right.Are oregan and co allowed a beer at night? I had thought Os had at least left a pile of corpses in his wake,or had turned up at the hotel with a prozzie on either arm.Is this really for real? Maybe he threatened to hang on the Chandeliers? Who the hell let that regan ou touch the world cup? He did his utmost,with those other Bok haters to make sure we could never win it,but Jake and the team beat them as well as England,so should really have been given a second trophy.There also needs to be a new PR team,to make sure some desperate journo cant drag the Bok emblem through the mud just to satisfy the dim- witted clan of Vicky Pollard types that read those ropy magazines.
7 Mar 2011, 11:46 am
So Os is a bad drunk. Wow. The things you discover about people.
7 Mar 2011, 12:32 pm
@rossoneri(rossoneri)-552: Thing is, he is yes but so is Muir, and on many many ocassions… he is protected though…
7 Mar 2011, 17:09 pm
Morne at 15,thats a joke right? Either Frans 4 solidness under ball and for his massive boot or Ludik as the more lively playmaker.Bakkies maybe shades Brad Thorn physically? Wot you smoking bru? Brad Thorn is Bakkiess *****! As is any player on this planet,END OF ! Mc Caw unrivalled? WHAT? 2009,Brussouw,Ring any feint bells ? He smoked Mc Caw and made him look like a slow school boy,as he did the Lions.Yes,a fit Butch is like bricking up that 10 channel,enter if youre into lots of pain! Yes,he has subtlety too,little grubber here,left foot,right foot,best passer around,pin-point back-fliip pass anyone? A bit silly to say we need him cos hes been there,cos we won at his first w.c.Yes,an underrated place kicker and yes,defo stamps his mark on the game.Think Lambie defo has BMT and is starting to dictate,very stupid not to start him ahead of MS in last tests,cos we know MS is the best kicker ever(and yes guaranteed points r awesome,but why then have talented attacking backs cos he cant ignite them,dreadful,intercept-prone pass,no vision)but thats where his services end.Maybe with FDPs way more accurate boot,kick and chase is an option,given the speed and hard tackling of Habanna and JJP,the preassure they bring.Lambie makes more impossible possible,more magic,especially with no space.Both very cool and lots of time,unlike panicky,just clear the ball in time,PHEW MS.Nice options to have.If you want a good 10,take the shark-Stransky-wc winner,Honiball,best of his era,James-wc winner,Lambie-most natural,silky smooth 10.What an extraordinary co-incidence hey?
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