Astute analyst
16 Aug 2011
RYAN VREDE talks to Heyneke Meyer about how Super Rugby will shorten players’ careers and why he believes the Boks have a good chance of defending the World Cup.
There has been a lot of conjecture about the effect the elongated Super Rugby schedule will have on a player’s longevity. What are your thoughts?
I foresee a player’s career being cut by three to five years as a result of the physical demands of Super Rugby. Elite players are in even more danger of chronic fatigue and serious injury because they will also play in Tests, including an expanded Tri-Nations [from 2012]. It will undoubtedly dilute the quality of rugby in the southern hemisphere because players can’t deliver optimal performances consistently under those conditions.
What strategy do you predict Super Rugby teams will employ to attempt to circumvent the demands of a long tournament?
Squad depth is going to become even more crucial. However, to build depth you need a good feeder system in your juniors, as well as significant financial resources in order to contract players in positions you may be thin in. The latter poses a problem because the contracts of your elite players account for 80% of a franchise’s budget. So you have very little to work with for the remainder of your immediate squad, let alone any prospective recruits. You’ll probably see more youngsters playing Super Rugby in future. These days they tend to come out of school physically ready to compete at a senior level, but they will struggle to have long careers if they are exposed to regular Super Rugby at that age. It’s a fine balance and the teams that get it right will stand more chance of being successful.
What trends have you seen in the game of late?
Last year, because the law interpretations at the breakdown were new, referees were policing that area far more vigilantly. The attacking team was heavily favoured and teams that could keep the ball through multiple phases thrived. Defending teams struggled to turn over possession, and only the smartest openside flankers were a factor as a result. There was so much quick ball, but that isn’t the case any longer – it’s a contest again. It’s also a key reason the Stormers performed as well as they did. They competed brilliantly at the breakdown and were able to set their defensive line, making it very, very difficult to breach them. This trend has placed an added importance on tactical kicking, and when you look at the ingredients that will improve a team’s chances of being successful at the World Cup – tactical kicking, solid defence and a strong ruck contest – the Springboks tick all the boxes. I had reservations about our ability to play the multi-phase, high-tempo game that the rules encouraged. But, having seen this trend develop, I’m more optimistic.
The issue of how players should be managed in the Tri-Nations has polarised opinion. Where do you stand?
It’s important for us to back the strategy the Springboks have adopted in this regard [to rest most of their first-choice players for the away leg of the Tri-Nations]. Peter [de Villiers] and the team deserve all our support. But my opinion on the matter is that while the resting of senior players in the 2007 Tri-Nations was hailed as a success, we didn’t have to limit our thinking in this way. There’s more than one route to success, although I fully understand the rationale behind wanting to rest players. I just see massive value in the group playing together, given how soon the Boks’ pool matches start after their Tri-Nations campaign [22 days]. I would place a huge premium on beating the All Blacks in New Zealand just a couple of weeks before the World Cup will be held there. The psychological lift that would give the players would be invaluable, particularly if they face the All Blacks in the play-off stages. Defeat wouldn’t be a tragedy because all the pressure will be on them in a play-off situation.
Some of the Bulls’ Springboks haven’t played regularly because of injuries. There are concerns about how their lack of game time will impact the Springboks at the World Cup. Do you share those concerns?
No. Bakkies Botha, Fourie du Preez and Pierre Spies started slowly because they all had operations in the off-season and were recovering. This limited their pre-season preparation and the consequences of that were seen in the early rounds of Super Rugby where they started slowly. But they’ve all improved gradually and the Boks will get the best of them at the World Cup, especially Fourie and Bakkies – who’ve played less than Pierre – if they can stay fit.
The Bulls will lose a host of senior players after the World Cup. What is a realistic outlook in the coming years for the union?
You must remember that players like Fourie, Bakkies and Victor [Matfield] are the best in their positions in the world. You rarely find two players like that in one team. We’ve been blessed with three. Then others like Gurthrö Steenkamp and Gary Botha are high-class players who will also be sorely missed. There is no question that their absence will have a telling effect. We have some talented youngsters at the union who will develop into fine players in the coming years. But that process will take time. It is important that the senior players who stay on at the Bulls step up now. We won’t tolerate a significant drop in standards because the players we have at our disposal are still of a very high calibre.
You expressed reservations about Chiliboy Ralepelle’s elevation to the Test side in 2006, believing it to be premature.He then went on to struggle with injuries and, when fit, seldom played regularly for the Springboks. But he has impressed this season. As a known supporter of his, this must be encouraging.
Absolutely. Chiliboy has been through a helluva lot for one so young and he is starting to show glimpses of the player I believe he can be. If he is managed properly, and by that I mean given sufficient game time, he has the potential to develop into a great player.
Your old student Bryan Habana has struggled for form for some time now. What do you think is the problem?
Bryan is a class player and mentally tough, so I wouldn’t write him off just yet. Also, it’s not my place to comment on him because I don’t know the full picture – what’s happening in his personal life and so on. But generally when players struggle like he is, it’s like being stuck in quicksand. The more you try to escape, the deeper you sink. I’ve seen it happen to many players. The ones I’ve seen recover from those situations have done so when they’ve rediscovered a natural enjoyment of the game again. How he gets to that point is for him and his coaches to determine.
Which players outside the established Springboks impressed you in Super Rugby this year?
I rate [Stormers centre-wing] Johann Sadie highly. He is a brilliant, brilliant young player. He is quick, strong relative to his size, runs beautiful lines and plays without any apparent fear of failure. He, for me, would add value to the World Cup squad. He could play centre or wing, and with a safety net in a squad of experienced guys, playing him isn’t a gamble. [Shortly after this interview with Meyer, Sadie signed a two-year contract with the Bulls.] Frans Steyn thrived in that environment in 2007. Sadie could do the same. I’d also find a place for Adriaan Strauss [who Meyer coached at the Bulls]. He is playing the best rugby of his career. Every week I watch him I’m always impressed with his technical ability and work rate, which is second to none in the group of South African hookers.
Some prominent coaches and analysts have derided the hype surrounding New Zealand’s Sonny Bill Williams, saying that he will be found out in due course. What are your impressions of him?
I don’t share those views. In fact, I think he is a special, special player. The suggestion that he is a one-trick pony is flawed. You only need to have watched him closely to know this. His offload ability in contact is exceptional, it’s a match-winning skill. But he also offers you a powerful ball-carrying option, and rarely doesn’t dominate the collisions when he does so. Playing in tandem with Dan Carter will elevate the All Blacks’ threat because they will just have so many attacking options. Carter is a handful on his own as it is. You just never know what he is going to do – a show-and-go, run, pass or kick – now you have to contend with the prospect of him passing to Williams, who has so many weapons in his arsenal. They have the potential to develop into the best 10-12 combination of all time.
The Bok coaching job is expected to be on offer later this year. Have you considered applying for it once again after a failed bid in 2007?
It would be an honour, but my immediate feeling is that my time has come and gone. I would love to have coached the current group, but it wasn’t to be. I believe in establishing structures for sustained success. That is difficult to do in the results-driven environment of Test rugby. Perhaps my skill set would be better utilised in a different role? I don’t know, and I’m not dismissing the possibility of applying for the job. Time may alter my view.
– This article first appeared in the August issue of SA Rugby magazine. The September issue – a 260-page World Cup special – will be on sale from 24 August.
31 Comments
16 Aug 2011, 06:11 am
Bulls Dragon
16 Aug 2011, 06:55 am
Funny how the first two articles this morning relates to a player being snubbed by a bulls**t coach and the other about a coach who was snubbed by a bulls**t system………..Pitch the tent and haul out the red noses everybody!!!!!!
16 Aug 2011, 06:57 am
Heyneke “We have some talented youngsters at the union” Ja like hougaard, Sadie, Engelbrecht and Visser. All of them from Cpt, great feeder system for the Bulls
16 Aug 2011, 07:01 am
From A-Z common-sense… now Peter De Villiers and co on the other hand!
16 Aug 2011, 07:02 am
@RugbyGuru_0_(RugbyGuru_0_)-3: No use moaning if the idiots in CPT cannot spot talent and keep it there. Instead they opt to pull out the cheque books for a quick fix and only buy big names which has thusfar yielded fakall.
16 Aug 2011, 07:04 am
@ KWAGGA ROBERTSE(KWAGGA ROBERTSE), Don’t worry mate, we will buy all of them back in a few years time starting with hougaard! Hehe
16 Aug 2011, 07:06 am
@RugbyGuru_0_(RugbyGuru_0_)-6: Dan kak ek in my broek…..
16 Aug 2011, 07:07 am
This article is called Astute analyst but Heyneke looks like he’s got the down syndrome in that photo! Hehe
16 Aug 2011, 07:07 am
Meyer must be one of the best (if not the best) rugby brains going around. He is South African and has a love for the Boks…..it amazes me that his knoweledge is not being used at Bok level. The Bulls might be struggling now with losing a few senior players, but Meyer will make sure they are back at the top again in a few years. Not sure who will coach the Boks after the world cup, but it is an exciting thought with all the young talant coming through, just hope we get a brain like thisd to run the show and develop future Bok stars!
16 Aug 2011, 07:09 am
Ryan
With the amount of rugby being played in recent times, how far are we from an extended squad system of say 25 players in order to rotate benches more to look after players better?
16 Aug 2011, 07:12 am
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE(KWAGGA ROBERTSE)-10:
Bwhahahahaha now that was funny, asking Ryan a real rugby related question!!!
16 Aug 2011, 07:15 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-11: Hey n man moet so nou en dan n klip in die bos gooi…..
16 Aug 2011, 07:16 am
rugbyguru: he means dippenaar, watermeyer, van velze, jinka, blommetjies, orkie kruger, brummer, mabeta etc bwahahahhahah
16 Aug 2011, 07:18 am
@Slartibartfast(Slartibartfast)-11: Moet katrol. Goed gaan ou maat.
16 Aug 2011, 07:18 am
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE(KWAGGA ROBERTSE)-10: i cant see that helping much? Teams are always gonna pick their strongest sides, and the top players will always suffer from too much rugby no matter how big the bench is. Forgetting for a minute that rugby is now very professional and most decisions are make purely on financial outcome, the best way to fix player fatigue, is to scrap the end of year tours and allow players to get proper rest and pre season training in. I would also scrap the tri nations and bring back proper full tours, involving touring teams playing provincials teams. great exposure for youngsters and great for spotting talent.
16 Aug 2011, 07:18 am
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE(KWAGGA ROBERTSE)-12:
Still very funny!
16 Aug 2011, 07:19 am
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE(KWAGGA ROBERTSE)-14:
Cheers
16 Aug 2011, 07:19 am
@ Transformation(Transformation), not one of those players you mentioned will be boks! Oh and don’t forget dippenaar is from Cpt as well! Hehe
16 Aug 2011, 07:28 am
ag damnation man! Just read M Steyn going to start Sat….
16 Aug 2011, 07:39 am
@RugbyGuru_0_(RugbyGuru_0_)-8:
you mean the ‘three titles down and counting’ syndrome?….hmmmm?…
16 Aug 2011, 07:42 am
WHAAAAT!!!
16 Aug 2011, 08:01 am
heyneke never fails to blow me away…amazing this guy never got a fair shot at coaching the boks…only in sa i tell you…
16 Aug 2011, 08:48 am
@ we have it on good authority that on september 11, a legend will rise…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha, looks can be deceiving I guess, one thing is for sure, he has an eye for spotting talent
16 Aug 2011, 08:59 am
@ we have it on good authority that on september 11, a legend will rise…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha, Well to be honest, he didn’t really perform miracles at leicester in that short time he was there.
16 Aug 2011, 10:09 am
@RugbyGuru_0_(RugbyGuru_0_)-24:
still the best super rugby record in sa’s history, period.
in the case of leicester i would say the cultural barrier was perhaps too hard to overcome? and i mean him overcoming them in order to get them to do things his way and not him fitting in with them.
16 Aug 2011, 10:48 am
@KWAGGA ROBERTSE(KWAGGA ROBERTSE)-10: I’d imagine the game will go that way within the next 5yrs
16 Aug 2011, 10:48 am
Nothing new here , players need to be managed better , squads need to be rotated better , this is nothing new , if the S15 was not a few weeks longer , surely the guys would be back getting ready for the tri-nations , after that it is the currie cup and eoyt. The season has always ended more or less the same time.
So, getting the guys to play more rugby , when they will be playing about the same amount of rugby , vs more or less the same opposition (S15 and Tri-Nations) then the local Currie Cup. The mindset needs to be changed. I have many ideas as to how they can implement this but I would like an email address to send it to. Would hate to make a ground breaking set of idea’s and then some on else run around claiming a sudden bout of intelligence. Then again holding thumbs for intelligence at SARU is like saying Einstein knew how to add 1 plus 1 , bit of an understatement …
16 Aug 2011, 10:50 am
@RugbyGuru_0_(RugbyGuru_0_)-3: Not his fault if the Stormers are too thick to hang on to their best new talent. They make dumb purchases from other unions and then bemoan losing star quality players. How much of a run has Sadie got this year? Have they bothered maintaining their depth? No.
16 Aug 2011, 10:59 am
@ we have it on good authority that on september 11, a legend will rise…(i_love_u_bakkiesbotha, Culture clash ?!? Hahaha! Rugby has no culture barrier, all teams play the same game with same laws! Hehe
16 Aug 2011, 11:53 am
This guy should have been coaching the Boks.
16 Aug 2011, 13:40 pm
Even he doesn;t want to take the Bok job next knowing how tough the job will be!!
Jake had the balls to take a mess and mould it.
Heinke I hope you change your mind and take the challenge.
Every damb coach in SA wanted to work with this group. Think when Jake started Paulse had like 50 tests behind his name and the entire team combined had another 100 maybe. Barry and Joubert had some experience, Gaffie was there but pretty average.
This team had over 500 test caps combined as the coach took over.
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.