Future of South African rugby

Published 11 October 2011 | By biltong

Following on from GrootBlouSmile’s article about South African rugby’s next step. Here is my input.

For South African rugby a new era is about to dawn. Soon Peter de Villiers will finish his contract and South Africa will look for a new coach. The South African Rugby Union need to be bold this time, they need to look at which candidate will have the ability to break the mould, someone who will be brave enough to change the way we attack, someone willing to get rid of the old guard and bring in youngsters who still have the ability to play without fear of losing, the new coach will have to find a new ethos and game plan for the Springboks, something that is long overdue.

Most importantly we need some intelligent players, players who can truly live up to the idiom of playing what is in front of them, not only the opponent but the referee, for too long South Africa players have not been coached to have the ability to think on their feet, to have the ability to adapt midstream.But before this is to happen SARU needs to get their house in order. South African rugby in the professional era has slowly been degraded into a collective mess of political correctness, incompetent coaching, poor administration at the top where individual self promotion and egocentric agendas are the order of the day.

There are a whole host of local candidates who will put up their hands for the job. Dick Muir and Gary Gold will be the first to throw their names into the hat. Rassie Erasmus, Allister Coetzee and Heyneke Meyer . Hopefully Jake White resists and does not put his name in the hat.

The most appropriate candidates in my opinion would be Nick Mallet, John Mitchell, Rassie Erasmus and Naka Drotske. Why? Well I think these guys can break the mould, they have all shown an ability to coach more expansive rugby and the willingness to be less conservative. Even though I would like to see John Mitchell be the next Springbok coach, I doubt whether he will want to get involved in the politics that is SA rugby.

One thing South African rugby doesn’t lack is talent, if you look towards the provinces and ignore all players older than 28 then these are the potential players who have in my view a shot at the international stage.

Prop
Beast Mtwarira (Sharks), Jannie du Plessis (Sharks), Coenie Oosthuizen (Cheetahs), Wimpie Nel (Cheetahs), Eugene van Staden (Sharks), JC Janse van Rensburg (Lions), Werner Kruger (Bulls), Dean Greyling (Bulls)

Hooker
Bismarck du Plessis (Sharks), Adriaan Strauss (Cheetahs), Deon Fourie (Stormers),

Lock
Andries Bekker (Stormers), Ross skeate (Sharks), Michael Rhodes (Lions), Juandre Kruger (Bulls)

Back row
Jean Deysel (Sharks), Joshua Strauss (Lions), Nick Koster (Stormers), Heinrich Brussow (Cheetahs), Schalk Burger (Stormers), Duane Vermeulen (Stormers), Willem Alberts (Sharks), Francois Louw (Stormers)

Scrum half
Francois Hougaard (Bulls), Dewaldt Duvenage (Stormers), Ruan Pienaar (UK)

Flyhalf
Patrick Lambie (Sharks), Elton Jantjies (Lions)

Center
Frans Steyn (Racing), Johann Sadie (Stormers) Juan du Jongh (Stormers), Jaque Fourie (Stormers), Alwyn Hollenbach (Lions), Pierre Spies (Bulls)

Wing
Lwasi Mvovo (Sharks), JP Pietersen (Sharks), Michael Killian (Lions), Bjorn Basson (Bulls), Gio Aplon (Stormers), Bryan Habana (Stormers)

Fullback
Riaan Viljoen (Cheetahs/Griquas), Jaco Taute (Lions), Morne Steyn (Bulls)

There are some controversial positional choices I would like to see, Pierre Spies at center, apart from Jaque Fourie we don’t have strike runners, and we have more than enough loose forwards, so why not gamble and give it a shot.

If we are to break the mould and go for more expansive rugby Morne Steyn isn’t the pivot, but his boot and general positional play can suit him well at fullback.

Frans Steyn must settle at inside centre, he was enormous during the World Cup and has shown his ability to not only break the gain line, but also get the rest of his back line away.

South Africa must not forsake their strengths, they still need to do the basics right and first control the match, and only then will they have earned the right to attack, but a little more skill and adventurous play will be welcomed.

The future for SA rugby is bright, but only if SARU gets their house in order and appoint a coach on merit only, that, and a willingness to bring back the importance of winning every test. I do not ever want to hear a coach say “Judge me on the World Cup” and I never want to see a coach forsake one test for some greater goal somewhere in the future. A 75% win ratio should be the minimum goal, nothing less will be acceptable.

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