Expanding horizons
7 Mar 2011
RYAN VREDE, in SA Rugby magazine, talks to Jacques Cronjé about his World Cup snub, maturing, and going head-to-head with Sébastien Chabal at Racing Métro.
You were a regular starter with the Bulls and in the Springbok mix when you decided to leave for France in 2007. What prompted the departure?
I wasn’t selected for the World Cup squad and didn’t see any sense in spending another four years trying to prove myself in the Test side with the possibility that I could miss out at the final reckoning again. It was time to make a change. I was still young and didn’t want to go as a player looking for a retirement package. I didn’t want to embarrass my country or myself, so going while I was still reaching my peak made sense.
Did you leave a bitter man given that you were overlooked for the World Cup squad?
I did. I’d been in the squad from 2004 up to the [World Cup] warm-up Test against Namibia, but was then excluded at the expense of a player who had come out of retirement [Bob Skinstad]. But I realised that bitterness would be a counter-productive force in my life. Starting a career in France helped with the healing process in that I didn’t have time to dwell on the disappointment. I’m over that now. I’ve made peace with it.
A conservative farm boy from Klerksdorp who has lived in Pretoria for most of his playing career decides that Biarritz is a good place to spend a couple of years. That surprised me.
It surprised me too, as I hadn’t really ever thought about playing abroad. To say it was a culture shock would be a serious understatement. I’d discussed it with my wife and we decided that it would be a great adventure. We had never heard of Biarritz, let alone Basque country before, and a couple of hours spent on the internet didn’t prepare us for what was in store. Pretoria and Biarritz are like night and day. We packed two bags, took a deep breath and jumped on the plane. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
What was the biggest adaptation?
The language. You don’t get anything done if you can’t hold your own in French. I’m fluent now, but that’s been a long and frustrating process. Also, when we landed I basically joined the team immediately and we were off to Italy to play Treviso. So my wife had to fend for herself in an unfamiliar country, which couldn’t have been easy for her. There were a couple of Saffas at Biarritz when I arrived which made things a little easier, but the first year was a tough one for us.
By all accounts you were loved at Biarritz, but did you love Biarritz?
Yeah, absolutely. Rugby-wise I’ve learnt a lot, but I think the real value of my time at the club was the emotional and social maturity I developed. I’m a farm boy, that’s my world, not the bright lights and casinos of a city like Biarritz. But I realised that my world was very small and I needed to expand my horizons. So we explored the city and the country. In the summer we would take drives down to San Sebastián [in Basque country, Spain], or we’d spend time on the south coast. I’m also a very private person, but I was forced to challenge myself in this regard or my time overseas would be miserable. I’m glad I did because through friendships with the Englishmen, Pacific Islanders, New Zealanders and Frenchmen at the club I learnt so much about different cultures, and that enriches one’s life.
Paris-based Racing Métro came knocking when they were promoted to the Top 14. What was the appeal of joining them?
It was two-fold: it was an excellent offer financially and I liked the idea of being part of a new and exciting journey they were about to start. I loved my time at Biarritz. It’s a rugby city where everyone knows who you are and are emotionally invested in the club. My son spent his first couple of years there, so it holds great memories. In Paris there’s so much competition for people’s attention entertainment-wise that rugby is not as all-consuming. That was the biggest adjustment because I really enjoyed the vibe in Biarritz.
You came to Racing knowing that you’d compete for a place with French cult hero Sébastien Chabal. That took some balls.
I actually didn’t know he would be used as a No 8. He’d played most of his rugby at lock for France and I thought that would be the plan at Racing. But he’s spent most of his time in my preferred position. It wouldn’t have been an issue if he was playing Test rugby at No 8, but that’s not the case. Chabal has god-like status in France so it isn’t surprising that he is preferred. For publicity, there’s no better person than Chabal. I’ve had to make my way at blindside flank, which isn’t a train smash since I’ve played there before, but the coaches know it isn’t my preferred position.
You’re into your fifth year in France. Would you say you’re a more complete player now compared to when you left South Africa?
No doubt. I grew up here in rugby terms. The conditions make it crucial that you concentrate on the basics of your game and when you hone the basics, everything else tends to fall into place. Technically the focus is on drives and dominance in close quarters, but there’s a flawed perception of France as a crash and bang league. On a sunny day you’ll see play that would compare favourably with the very best games in Super Rugby. That type of game comes naturally to me, so I’m always praying for some sunshine. Sadly, those days are rare. But because of the conditions I’m now better equipped to deal with the 9-6 grind in the wind and mud than I was before I arrived.
Last year Springbok coach Peter de Villiers claimed that players based in the northern hemisphere weren’t conditioned to play at the same pace and intensity of their southern counterparts. What are your thoughts on that, having played Test rugby and in France?
I don’t know what his coaching background is, so I’m not sure if he’s qualified to offer that sort of assessment. But if he has coached in the northern hemisphere he’d know that isn’t the case at all. I think it was just a matter of the players in question having not played Test rugby for a while. They needed to settle back in and if they’d been given more of an opportunity I think you would have seen them perform to the standard they were expected to. To make that sort of judgement based on one game doesn’t make sense.
Could you spend the rest of your life in France?
No, not at all. My brother, Geo, and I have a farm near Lichtenburg in the North West Province and I’ll dive into that business full time once I retire. I love South Africa and I want my kids [Cronjé’s wife is pregnant with their second child] to grow up there. I haven’t ruled out the possibility of ending my career back home either.
– This article first appeared in the March issue of SA Rugby magazine. The April issue will be on sale from 16 March.
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46 Comments
7 Mar 2011, 06:06 am
Results DRAGON:
1 Spinnaker 20.0 0.00 20.00
2 croc 19.0 1.00 20.00
3 Corndog 19.5 0.00 19.50
4 Faulty 19.0 0.50 19.50
5 BOFH 18.0 1.50 19.50
6 kevin w 18.5 0.00 18.50
7 Johnny Walker 18.5 0.00 18.50
8 DB 18.0 0.50 18.50
9 BIGBOSS 18.0 0.50 18.50
10 Scalpel 18.0 0.25 18.25
7 Mar 2011, 06:55 am
This man on form was destructive. His form took a huge dip but regained some of it when he moved to the Lions. Was still way better than Skinstad at that time.
7 Mar 2011, 07:23 am
I’ll take Cronj’e any time over the followings:
At 8: over Spies, Kanko, Vermulen,
At 7: over Albert, Potgieter, Louw, Dyesel
I rate him on par with Juan Smith and JvN
7 Mar 2011, 07:30 am
ja jacque i’ve always said skinstad didn’t deserve that world cup medal! he was gifted it by jake after deals made in the heat of the night in london!
7 Mar 2011, 08:22 am
Well done Jacques. If you are not welcome in your own country, go and excel somewhere else. It is not just a rugby story, but a story of most white men in this country today. Good on you mate!
7 Mar 2011, 08:34 am
Jacques was a great player but his brother was equally talented and at a stage looked better than bakkies – it is a shame that politics ended this mans careert
7 Mar 2011, 08:47 am
I rated Jaccques Cronje highly when he was a Bull/Bok before ’07. Back the it was great rivalry for the No.8 spot with JVN and Juan Smith with Cronje more often than not getting the nod @ 8 while the other two would be shifted to 7.
Keep up the good fight Jaccques.France seems to be a favourite Rugby and Lifestyle choice for Saffa’s.
7 Mar 2011, 09:17 am
maybe with the rumours of a lot of senior bulls players leaving J Cronje will come home next year?
7 Mar 2011, 09:36 am
@grant10(grant10)-8:
I was thinking that as well. The Bulls need some big bruisers to replace the pansies that are currently masquerading as “star players” in their line up.
Maybe then they’ll be able to beat crappy teams like the Highlanders.
7 Mar 2011, 09:47 am
@Tacitus(Tacitus)-9: Remember the Bulls snubbed Cronje when his form took a dip and he had to go to the Lions. Heyneke should get out the “big” chequebook for this one.
7 Mar 2011, 09:48 am
@Tacitus(Tacitus)-9: agree tact….pedrie being missed a bit as well…
7 Mar 2011, 09:52 am
@grant10(grant10)-11:
There’s more that needs to be sorted out at the Bulls than just replacing one or two non-performing players.
The guys once again didn’t look like they really wanted to get their jerseys dirty.
How many Highlanders were tackled back on Saturday? How many collissions did we dominate?
That’s attitude. Matfield is attending business dinners, and other guys are busy with hectic social lives, while they should be focusing on the rugby.
Some serious arse-whipping is required at Loftus. I am so disgusted that I don’t really want to talk about it for fear of sounding to harsh.
I need some time to cool down.
7 Mar 2011, 10:00 am
@Tacitus(Tacitus)-12: i understand the frustration….completely….i agonised through 80 minutes of drivel at newlands…..rushed to meet some friends at a sushi bar ….next to a big screen…so i could watch a bulls team that could have restored my mood….and got that rubbish.
You are 100 % correct….attitude and intensity only came from landers….Bulls need to take a long , hard look at themselves….
Play Juandre Kruger ….and Flippie as the locks….you okes are in toublre at 10….JLP proving a sad loss…..and I am not sure 13 is working out for you okes…..every team can have an off day / nite…..but its looking dire for both Bulls and stormers….
7 Mar 2011, 10:05 am
@grant10(grant10)-13:
Yes. We need the intensity of guys like vd Merwe, Francois Hougaard ( I’d play him at 13), Kruger, and one or two others.
Wynand Olivier needs a kick up his arse – he cost us 2 log points in that final move, when he had an overlap on his outside. The guy is proving every one of his critics right this season. Ditto Pierre Spies.
Dewald Potgieter is nowhere, and Chilliboy is a non-entity in the game.
And Du Preez – he is starting to believe his own hype. He is the most talented guy in the team, but his match fitness and decision making sharpness is severely lacking.
Send them all to Kamp Staaldraad. Else we’re in for more of the same.
7 Mar 2011, 10:08 am
How the mighty have fallen!. Who could imagine the Bulls being manhandled hey ? I saw all the warning signs in the warm game against the Kings. We were totally dominated physically there.
Ja, I think with the WC, and retirement of senior guys, Super rugby is no longer the priority. I beleive the guys are playing half hearted.
Unless this new trend (Of being a bunch of half hearted pro’s) is bucked, I dont see the Bulls in the top 6, let alone defending the title.
7 Mar 2011, 10:09 am
@Anvil(Anvil)-15:
Sorry pal. My motto is if you’re not first, you may as well be last.
What’s the point of ending in the top 6 if you don’t win the tournament?
Either they play like champs, or they may as well not pitch up in the first place.
7 Mar 2011, 10:17 am
@Tacitus(Tacitus)-16:
They lack the ruthlesness they had under Heyneke.
I fear even a top 6 would not be achievable the way we’re getting dominated.The Saders must be smacking their lips now.
7 Mar 2011, 10:19 am
@Anvil(Anvil)-17:
Yes. Too many lightweights in the team, and not enough bruisers. And some of the heavyweights play like lightweights.
Put Danie Coetzee, Danie Rossouw, Pedrie, Jacques Cronje, Flip vd Merwe, Bakkies and Juandre Kruger together in your match 22, and you’ll see something different.
Instead, we have midgets, anorexics and softies posing as tough guys.
7 Mar 2011, 10:23 am
@Tacitus(Tacitus)-16: Ha ha, this is going to be very amusing for a long time. It’s clear that the wheel – the one I have been mentioning for well over a year now – has started to turn. The Bulls are in that unfortunate part of the cycle where the slide is probably inevitable, yet many loyalists naively believe it can be halted. The levels of bang-your-head-on-the-table frustration during this period are almost too much to handle. If it’s any consolation, you get accustomed to it after a couple of years. You still want to win badly, but you don’t run the risk of becoming a sociopath when you continue to lose. Another upside is that it is indeed a cycle. This means that around 2018 or 2020 you should start to see daylight again. Hang in there, big guy.
7 Mar 2011, 10:29 am
@Tacitus(Tacitus)-18: Do I read this right? You calling Spies a softie? Spies must have been some sort of “wegkruiper: champ because in these close games no one can find him. I’m a Spies fan but he need to up his game big time. Alberts and Beardface are owning him atm.
7 Mar 2011, 10:31 am
@Hop Hop Spinnekop(Hop Hop Spinnekop)-20:
Spies was an embarrassment on Saturday.
@>^..^< katman(katman)-19:
I don’t get why the cycle needs to be so long. In my view, you should be able to identify it immediately, and start corrective action. But that corrective action is needed right now is undeniable.
7 Mar 2011, 10:46 am
@Tacitus(Tacitus)-21: Believe me, I’d like it to be shorter too. It just isn’t. Too many factors come into play.
There’s the culture of losing. Once all the new recruits (could be up to a third of the squad) are used to this for a couple of years, it’s hard to imagine any other way.
Secondly, it only takes one kak season for sentiment to turn against a coach. Today’s Ludeke is tomorrow’s Div. And once the people hate him, his job is three times harder. But he has a contract, and the bosses will be loath to look like knee jerkers. So a faltering coach digs the hole deeper.
Finally they fire him, and a new guy must step into the breech. Chances are they first appoint the wrong guy, so that 2 to 3 year cycle must run its course. By then half the stars have left, as their careers are too short to ride out the storm.
And finally, the sponsors desert the sinking ship. Together with diminished gate takings, this spells big trouble for the franchise as they rely solely on youngsters from the feeder schools and the odd basement bargain from the Cheetahs to bolster their ranks. This is where you see a team of 20 year olds and Wylie Human trying to hold back the flood.
These are the darkest days, and seeking out your fellow Bulls supporters is like trying to find someone who once voted Nat. You know they must be there, but only half a dozen will ever own up.
I’m sorry if this sounds bleak, but there is no use in sugar coating an inconvenient truth.
7 Mar 2011, 10:53 am
i’m not looking forward to the stormers vs bulls game. the way both teams are playing it will be a snore-fest.
how good were those Landers? thomson, soakai & manu were awesome! those okes play with passion
7 Mar 2011, 10:59 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-22:
Great stuff
7 Mar 2011, 11:01 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-23:
Soakai will be blown off the park by a decent ref.
Manu only looked awesome because he played against Spies.
Thomson is great.
7 Mar 2011, 11:02 am
@Mr Black(Mr Black)-24: Agreed!
My favourite was: “and the odd basement bargain from the Cheetahs to bolster their ranks”.
Classic!
7 Mar 2011, 11:05 am
Anyone know where I can get a abacus?
I want to send Franco Van Der Merwe a package.
7 Mar 2011, 11:05 am
So Transie, is it a fair assessment that EP wil win the Vodacom Cup by a counry mile?
7 Mar 2011, 11:06 am
@Taahirah(Taahirah)-26:
Yes, i enjoyed that one too.
7 Mar 2011, 11:07 am
@Hop Hop Spinnekop(Hop Hop Spinnekop)-27: Eish, I could have donnered him. I’m no maths genius by any stretch, but this was unforgivable. What exactly were they going to do next had they scored the try?
7 Mar 2011, 11:09 am
@Taahirah(Taahirah)-26: @Mr Black(Mr Black)-29: It’s only funny because it’s so painfully true. We Lions are the only ones qualified to comment on this.
7 Mar 2011, 11:12 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-22:
It’s not as bad as you say as the structures that have been put in place by Heyneke Meyer in the mid ’00 ‘s are still yeilding the results.We could afford to lose players like Habana, Pedrie, Gary Botha ( for a while) and the like as there was adequate backup within the squad.
I belive our form will slide, but not to the dark days of 2002.Adequate replacements for the retiring players are there in the present squad.
Like someone said, all the Bulls need is a kick up the arse.A wake up call.Another 10th place finish perhaps.I ‘ll take that.But no sir,that would not be the end of the Bulls!
I ‘ll stay a Bull.
7 Mar 2011, 11:13 am
@Mr Black(Mr Black)-28: hehehe not a chance…only 2 games into the season one can’t making outlandish predictions like that…my name is not Tac
7 Mar 2011, 11:17 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-31:
Yes, you do have some experience on the subject.
7 Mar 2011, 11:19 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-33:
Fair assessment.
7 Mar 2011, 11:19 am
@Anvil(Anvil)-32: I like your spirit, kid. You’ll need that in spades going forward. Stick with them, even if it takes a decade. It’s like one of those American movies where you can only truly grow when faced with impossible adversity.
People don’t write songs about winning streaks. Not memorable ones, any way.
7 Mar 2011, 11:23 am
the Bulls were simply out-enthused, much like the chiefs and canes before them…
BP – congrats mate, wherever you are, your team is playing good, hard, simple rugby.. and like what happened when my team beat the Bulls last year, you guys wont get to play them in 2012
7 Mar 2011, 11:29 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-37: tl tl tl nice cheap shot at the end there…
7 Mar 2011, 11:30 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-37:
Poppa, is this winning by the highlanders sustainable? It is hard for us in SA to understand this new look Highlanders.
Could they top your conference?
7 Mar 2011, 11:36 am
@Transformation(Transformation)-38: heheh couldnt resist… and here I thought it was only the Australasian alliance that benefitted
@Mr Black(Mr Black)-39: not sure they will top the conference, think they will struggle with the Saders and possibly the Blues… Im also not sure they really have the depth, and an injury to one or two key players could see them slide IMO..
but I like the fact they have given the comp a fair shake up, albeit still very early on in the competition..
7 Mar 2011, 11:39 am
@poppa69(poppa69)-40:
Yes, always nice to see the underdog having it’s day, just not against my team.
7 Mar 2011, 11:41 am
@Mr Black(Mr Black)-41: I know what you mean, believe me… Im reminded of it every four years or so
7 Mar 2011, 11:53 am
Hi Tac! I don’t celebrate in anyone’s misery, but the cracks have been showing for a while regarding the Bulls. Last year they were not on the receiving end of refs bad calls and won games they should have lost. 12/13 were always going to be a problem. The old stars (they were stars) are waning and the Bulls had to start identifying players to take their places. Victor was a great player, but you can see he is not the player he was. Spies has only ever stared when he was getting going forward ball. He is useless defending and playing a tight game. Stegmann is nowhere and is being pinned by the refs for illegal stealing of the ball. He got away with it before but now he is not. Zane is so predictable. Get the ball and kick. Steyn is nowhere and just kicks without taking any other options. I don’t think the Bull supporters should be too depressed though as they team has performed well in the past. Naturally the wheel turns and they will need to start building. All the Bull teams are not performing at the moment and the 2nd stringers even lost at home to the Cavaliers.
That being said, I feel the same is happening with my team. When we start selecting players for their names instead of their form things will turn ugly.
Januarie
Jantjies
Habanna to name but a few.
The Sharks are the team to beat and have improved. The same can be said about the Lions. They are adjusting to the new laws and once they start winning they will be difficult to stop.
7 Mar 2011, 16:08 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-36:
ha ha ok oom. and I like your sense of humor. You would have needed that in spades being a Lions man.
But seriously though, the structures at the Bulls should carry them through to a top 6 finish.One can after all,hope!
7 Mar 2011, 16:49 pm
¡¡¡¡BASQUE COUNTRY!!!!! EUSKAL HERRIA, MY LAND!!!!, San Sebastian “la bella easo”. Biarritz another pearl. Well done Jacques
7 Mar 2011, 20:11 pm
@Tacitus(Tacitus)-12: would that be a can of a$$-whooping?
I didn’t like the way Cronje inferred Chabal has been playing No.8 due to his public profile, Chabal has been playing 8 on merit, he’s been excellent for Racing this season (even if he was **** at Twickers last week).
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