We are kiling ourselves. There are far too many EGO’s in South African Rugby!
They say if you want loyalty, go and buy a dog. It certainly seems to be the case in South African rugby.
National coach Peter de Villiers cannot find one coach of stature to help him getting the Boks back to winning ways.
No, there is no pun intended with those last two words in the previous sentence, but man, have some people not painted themselves into a corner over the last couple of years!
Mr Winning Ways himself, Jake White, declared his availability to coach the Boks again, but only on his terms. Those terms include firing the current crop.
I am sure Jake could have had a strong case for a comeback had he not burnt so many bridges with SARU and other role players, such as some of the senior players in his team as well.
SARU of course, lost someone of the calibre of Heyneke Meyer three years ago when they acted against their better judgment in not appointing the former Bulls coach to the highest position and then admitted that they did not make the call purely for rugby reasons alone.
Meyer left rugby a bitterly disappointed man.
It seems that those reasons are now coming back to haunt SARU president Oregan Hoskins and his wise men at the time (remember a certain Dr Jannie Ferreira and his wisdom?).
White has painted himself into a corner, SARU has painted themselves into a corner and now we have Springbok rugby in a corner? It could have been funny if it was not that sad.
The fact that De Villiers is now phoning other coaches left, right and centre is a clear indication that all panic stations are active and spinning out of control.
The fact that Meyer, Allister Coetzee, Rassie Erasmus, Frans Ludeke and even John Mitchell have been asked to help, but declined, and someone like White has offered, but was not accepted, certainly speaks volumes for the mess we are in.
This will not only be a massive test for De Villiers to regain some credibility amongst his peers, but also for SA Rugby to show their worth.
If I am not mistaken, Friday will be the first day at the office for Jurie Roux, the new SARU CEO.
Ironically, Roux was the one person who kept De Villiers in rugby by appointing him as consultant at Maties rugby at a time the Bok coach could not find meaningful employment in the game.
He certainly knows how to tick the boxes with De Villiers and let’s hope his experiences with the Bok coach helps to establish some sort of sanity for the way ahead.
SA Rugby’s new structures are in place with a couple of energetic administrators hard at work to try and sort out the mess their predecessors have created.
One thing that is clear from all of this is that Gary Gold and Dick Muir will be toast the moment someone else agrees to take their jobs.
I am not in their shoes – and it seems no one else wants to be – but I would resign if I were.
How will Muir and Gold ever look their coach in the eye again (and vice versa) when you know that he is looking for replacements?
Surely SA Rugby should fire Gold and Muir first, as it seems inevitable, and then try and get other coaches?
These behind the back calls made to the likes of Meyer, Erasmus and co is certainly not the way to go.
De Villiers and SA Rugby would have been surprised at the response if they went about it the right way.
You see, not everybody likes backstabbing, but when a process is open, you will find it is much easier to establish some respectability and then, loyalty.
So where to now?
Can De Villiers find the right people to assist him for the November tour in less than a month? How is it possible that no one wants to be involved in the most desired team in the country?
Every boy grows up wanting to become a Springbok and every coach dreams of one day coaching the Boks.
Or not?
I am not that confident. Will De Villiers go and appoint a no-nonsense type of coach like Jimmy Stonehouse as an assistant? He has proven coaching credentials, and incidentally has a far better record with regards to transformation that any other coach in the top tier and lives for the game.
Or do you get someone that is just outside of the current game, like Alan Zondagh, and ask him to apply his academy principles to the Bok team?
Whether you go for a current coach or a retired one, it is clear that De Villiers’s stature in the game has taken a massive knock.
It is now up to the coach to stand up and be counted.
Read JJ every Sunday in Rapport.
We deserve what we get, look at this attack on Peter now, we almost 90% of SA said we must get rid of Muir and Gold. Watch this attack on Div again.
He will never win
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers is continuing to alienate his backroom staff, having continued his mysterious search for new assistant coaches – despite not having spoken to his two assistants at all this week.
Earlier this week rugby365.com reported that Heyneke Meyer, the Blue Bulls’ Director of Rugby, and Rassie Erasmus, who holds a similar position at Western Province, were shortlisted to ‘assist’ the underfire Bok boss who on Monday faced a South African Rugby Union committee to explain SA’s poor Tri-Nations results.
De Villiers, himself, had also approached former All Blacks coach – and current Lions boss – John Mitchell to come on board, while we can also confirm Thursday-morning newspaper reports that De Villiers has since sounded out Bulls coach Frans Ludeke and WP mentor Allister Coetzee to join his backroom staff.
Even though SARU stated in a press release after De Villiers’s review meeting that the current Bok management team would stay intact for the year-end European tour, it has emerged that De Villiers has since targeted – and approached – Ludeke and Coetzee to hop aboard the shaky ship.
De Villiers is seemingly determined to get rid of his assistant coaches Dick Muir and Gary Gold – despite never having told the duo where, or if, they are falling short – as he looks to protect his own job ahead of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. That from a person who has always prided himself on honesty – a trait that is benefiting a host of under-performing players in the Bok squad, but not the backroom staff.
Both Muir and Gold have been involved with the Bok set-up since the start of 2008, when De Villiers took over. The trio have always enjoyed a great relationship, with Gold and Muir backing their boss from the start – despite a rocky start to their tenure when they finished with the Tri-Nations Wooden Spoon in that first year.
After an all-conquering 2009 Test season – which included a series win over the Lions and Tri-Nations glory – the cracks began to appear earlier this year when De Villiers questioned the commitment of his management team via a newspaper interview. The Bok coach later claimed to have been misquoted.
Muir and Gold, however, have never had a bad word to say about their boss, with the latter even going on record in a coaching blog last year as praising De Villiers’s “non-compromising attitude towards honesty”.
That same honesty, however, seems to be non-existent at present; with Muir and Gold’s jobs seemingly on the line – despite the head coach ultimately being responsible for the team’s performances this year and that includes the lack of on-field discipline, the poor selection policy (picking players out of position and the retention of out-of-form players) and, now, the continued uncertainty amongst the backroom staff.
But the uncertainty that De Villiers is creating around his support staff is the hardest to understand… and could produce the biggest fall-out for Div – this from a man who has always claimed to be honest in his dealings since taking over as Bok coach.
Besides, even if Muir and Gold ‘survive’ and go on tour with the Boks in November, how can they be expected to work for someone who clearly does not rate them anymore and clearly wants them replaced?
How can they be expected to show him any loyalty on what is expected to be an unforgiving tour on the field? Nevermind what could transpire off the field beforehand…
The only reason DM and GG are not going to resign is because then they will loose a substantial payout. They will stay on board until SARU terminates their contract. It’s purely financial for them.
and now I read that as per the IRB we will loose the Springbok emblem on the jersey. Do you think the all blacks will accept it if you tell them they cannot play in black anymore. They must sort all this shit out in all levels of SA rugby. I am slowly getting gatvol and am loosing my interest in Springbok rugby. ABSA must also F-off
Bal – maybe its time for some adult supervision in SA rugby.
Its all become quite farcical and it starts right at the top.
There is more incompetence and buddy-ism than in government.
Where’s Louis Luyt now to fax the lot?
@ superBul:
SuperB
I once had a client who wanted me to financially restructure his company. After performing a detailed review I realised what a H-U-G-E job it would be & that I could only succeed if the client himself gave me a completely free-reign & 100% support – publicly. He agreed to these terms & I proceeded to plan the restructuring, but when I presented the plan to him for “sign-off” he had other ideas … ideas that anyone with suitable experience could clearly see would never EVER work, in fact could only possibly lead to a single destination & that place was named disaster.
He tried to “pull rank” on me claiming that as the consultant I had to do what he wanted & it was my responsibility to make it a success. I asked for 24 hours to consider how I might handle this & went back with a letter for him to sign that basically stated I 100% believed my original proposal was not only the best plan, but would absolutely succeed if appropriately supported. At the same time I strongly expected that the “alternate” plan could not possibly succeed irrespective of how much I threw my shoulder into it & indeed would prove a disaster of such gigantic proportions that I would be required to come back & re-implement the original business plan in less than 6 months
HOWEVER if Mr Client felt SO STRONGLY that his plan would succeed – he should sign this letter that guaranteed me triple my daily rate should I be required come back & restructure a second time. I then gave him 24 hours to consider my counter-proposal after which he decided that perhaps my plan was not so bad after all. A long story short – the project was executed with even greater success then he had imagined I could possibly attain (his words) as a result of which he became one of my strongest reference clients.
The point of my story was that, ultimately for us both to succeed, he recognised that I needed to be in charge because that was what he was paying me to do. When I look at these professional coaches being approached to prop up an eccentric (at best) incompetent (at this level) who clearly has no loyalty to his sub-reporting line, indeed is quite prepared to throw them under the bus to save himself – I ask myself … “would I, a competent, qualified professional with a good reputation (the only tool a coach has to market himself) to risk say yes ?” … my head replies “not likely”.
@ Rugby_Princess:
Well what can i say. I will watch the development with interest.
Just wonder if all this other Professional Coaches are really that great, can they like you be called true Pros?
Super you need to accept the fact that PDV is the problem.
It is as simple as that.
In a normal society we would simply address the problem.
However we are now wanting to fire eveybody except PDV and blame everybody who does not want to join this sinking ship.
This is a view that has lost total perspective.
When decisions are made for the wrong reasons eventually the price has to be paid.
It is like a law of nature.
We cannot escape.
However we as South Africans are world champions at DENIAL never mind rugby!!
@ superBul:
Well … Really, if we are honest it is probably a lose-lose situation for them. If the Boks do not prosper they will be blamed & the Boks go great guns they will not get the credit anyway 😉 So asking them to jump aboard WITH their hands tied behind their backs is a REALLY BIG ASK – esp as whatever happens will taint or at least colour much of the remainder of their professional lives.
Personally, I believe the Boks with their individually extraordinary skills & passion are not at all far from redemption – IF – they were coached & managed properly. There is still time for that to happen – but not while the reins remain firmly in the grip of the TOD (Triumvirate Of Disappointment).
i think the people are missing the point in this write up….is not that the people dnt want to coach the bokke….they dont want to coach with pdv…look at DM and GG they had some respect in the rugby circle but now lost everything…. Gibe ludeke, allisdair, etc the chance to coach da bokke they want to and every single one of them will take it up…. Get rid of pdv now and give the next guy at least 12 months to correct all the wrongs…. Jake or H. Meyer…….. Sombody make them see the light plsw!!!!!!
@ Durban Bulle:
PERSACTLY ! 😀
@ rugbybal:Rugbybal, I read that on keo this morning.
Canterbury might move their logo for the Bok emblem to be put on the fron of the jersey. I hope that happens. If it does the Bok emblem will be on the chest of the jersey for next year. Not bad that actually would look great.
If the Bok is on the sleeve that will be very, very disappointing. I know I will never buy that jersey if it is there. NOT EVER. ABSA going to lose out too. Will wear my 2007 world cup jersey next year if that happens.
Before we know it, SARU gets a sponsor to add to each shoulder and eventually we find the Springbok on our @sses.
agree puma…. put tha protea on da shoulder if dey have 2 leave da bok alone!!!!!!!!
@ Durban Bulle: 😀 Howzit Durbs Bulle, Don’t think that flower will ever move….hahaha. Pity and it is huge on our jersey. They could have made it far nicer by being a bit smaller by leaving our the yellow on top.
It would be very disappointing to see the Bok on the sleeve of the jersey. I will never ever, ever by that jersey. Will wear my last one I bought for the world cup 2007. That one too does not have ABSA on it either. So they need to think careful about this if they want the supporters to buy the jersey. They MUST talk to Cantebury to move their logo to the sleeve to allow us to put the Bok emblem on the front of the jersey.
@ Puma: typo – meant – buy that jersey.
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