Like sands through the hourglass… so are the Rugby Days of Our Lives…

The saga of the appointment of a new Springbok coach in South Africa has almost singlehandedly made up for the lack of Southern Hemisphere rugby news in recent weeks!

In today’s Episode of this Soap Opera, “Rugby Days Of Our Lives“, the following:

  • SARU big shots seen hanging around Loftus
  • Speculation continues about who will be his support staff package
  • Will Victor Matfield become part of the Bokke coaching staff?
  • Who was snubbed, why they were snubbed…
  • Who slept with whom

OK I admit, the last one was taking it a bit far… we really don’t want to know too much about Stormers bedroom business, do we!

Sport24

Two of SARU’s top brass were spotted at Loftus Versfeld on Tuesday, which adds fire to the rumour that Heyneke Meyer will be appointed as the new Springbok coach on Friday.

The Beeld newspaper reports that SARU CEO Jurie Roux and vice president James Stoffberg attended a meeting at Loftus Versfeld with several directors of the Blue Bulls Company.

The main discussion point at this meeting is unknown but negotiations to release Meyer from his contract at the Bulls were probably hot on the agenda.

This comes after Meyer and Roux also met over the weekend, apparently to finalise his contract as Bok coach.

Some directors at the Blue Bulls are still unhappy with Meyer’s departure after he was appointed less than a year ago, but compensation is all that can legally stand between Meyer and his new job.

Further points of discussion were probably to also release two other members of the Bulls’ coaching staff.

Meyer apparently wants to take defence coach John McFarland and conditioning expert Basil Carzis with him to the Springboks.

Both McFarland and Carzis have contracts at the Blue Bulls.

 

rugby365

Retired Springbok lock Victor Matfield may be the next big name to be added to Heyneke Meyer’s coaching Dream Team.

This website has reliably learnt that intense behind-the-scenes negotiations are underway to add the name of Matfield to an already impressive list of backroom staff that could also feature John McFarland, Jacques Nienaber, Rassie Erasmus, Paul Treu and Basil Carzis.

While the announcement of the new Bok coach, to replace Peter de Villiers, won’t be made till Friday, it is the country’s worst kept secret that Meyer has raced so far clear it has become a no-contest.

And with the South African Rugby Union’s brainstrust set to rubberstamp his appointment at a series of meetings on Thursday and Friday, the debate has now shifted to who will join Meyer’s backroom staff.

Matfield has made no secret of the fact that he did not want a foreign coach to take charge of the Boks, and late last year told this website that Meyer taught him everything about rugby.

“He installed everything [I know] and the way I look at rugby. It is difficult to compare other coaches to him because Heyneke got me as a youngster and made me,” he told this website in an interview to mark the Cape Town launch of his book, Victor: My Journey.

“I worked very well with Frans [Ludeke, the current Bulls coach], whereas Heyneke ‘formed’ me as a rugby player. I enjoyed both coaches.”

With Meyer set to be the Boks’ head coach, Matfield could easily be fast-tracked from a part-time Bulls advisory position to a full-time post on Meyer’s team.

The outcome of some boardroom battles in the next few days will determine if Meyer gets his Dream Team – with the Bulls and Stormers administrators becoming very wary over the expected exodus of coaching intellect from their franchises.

The intense behind the scenes negotiations will also determine if respected coaching gurus like Nienaber and McFarland will be released by their unions.

It is understandable that the Stormers would not be happy to lose the expertise of a Nienaber just a couple of weeks after Erasmus walked out on them.

The loss for the Bulls camp could be much more devastating – McFarland, Carzis and Matfield.

The other coaches on SARU’s list of “preferred candidates” – which at the outset contained the names of Meyer, De Villiers, Allister Coetzee and Gert Smal – may wonder why they have not been afforded the opportunity to assemble such a prestigious squad and simply had to accept SARU’s terms?

However, there is a train of thought that SARU are merely repaying Meyer for the great injustice he was done four years ago, when De Villiers was appointed ahead of him in controversial fashion.

Dispatches from Newlands now suggest that Coetzee was dropped from that SARU ‘shortlist’ without anybody actually speaking to him.

At least De Villiers was afforded the courtesy of an informal chat with SARU CEO Jurie Roux, when the message was loud and clear: “There will be no extension for Divvy.”

32 Responses to Bok coaching ‘soapie’ – In today’s episode….

  • 1

    Awesome line up, if it all happens!

    Apparently Jurie Roux got lost on his way to Loftus!!

    As to your Stormers sleeping around jibe, well, how low do you have to go. Sleeping around is not something that we do lightly, we are passionate about Green Point, and only do it if it benefits all. Just watch us this season to see if I am justified in what I am saying.

  • 2

    1 @ Just For Kicks:
    LOWWWWWWWWWWWW!

    Hehehe, hope you took it in good fun, though!

  • 3

    On a more serious side, it seems that Springbok back Gio Aplon has been involved in a car accident. Bryan Habana stopped to help, travelling a few cars behind.

  • 4

    3 @ Just For Kicks:
    Eishhhh!

    Is Gio injured or was he too short to get injured?

    Sorry.. seriously though, injuries? Is he OK?

    Is Habana OK, did he get injured just watching it happen?

    Flok sorry… can’t seem to not take the Mikey out of the Stormers today…. I apologise!

    What car does Gio drive, a Matchbox or Dinky Toy karretjie?

  • 5

    @ grootblousmile:Yup, apparently sleeping around in Seapoint can be fun too!

  • 6

    4@ grootblousmile:No news in about the extent of the injuries – if any, and I understand Habanna was not involved in the accident, but saw it happen and stopped to help out.

  • 7

    5 @ Just For Kicks:
    Yeaaaaaaaaarrrrrsss ago (April 1988) I slept in that Hotel in Seapoint with the revolving Restaurant at the top…

    Does that qualify as sleeping around in Seapoint?

  • 8

    I am invicible.. well I was….

    Ai oh, ai oh it’s off to the Physio I go…

    Chat later!

  • 9

    7@ grootblousmile:
    The Ritz.
    6@ Just For Kicks:
    That just proves that Habana hasn’t been involved in ANYTHING since moving to the Cape.

  • 10

    8@ grootblousmile:
    Physio????????????? Just take stronger drugs man.

  • 11

    9 @ Loosehead:
    Ja, ons het lekker gerits in die Ritz!

    10 @ Loosehead:
    Hey man, got something pinching very badly between my Shoulder Blade and my spine, right near the “vlerkie”… Think she’ll give me a good rub and a Voltaren shot!

  • 12

    11@ grootblousmile:
    So no “happy ending”?
    See if they will give you Valium, you will sleep like a baby.

  • 13

    @ Just For Kicks:
    3
    Eish sorry to hear, hope he is alright. Brings back memories of Ettiene Botha, these young guys nearly always do it too fast. Holding thumbs that Gio is alright.

  • 14

    Bulls Statement:

    At a meeting called by SARU, on Tuesday, 24 January 2012, with the Blue Bulls Company’s Board of Directors, SARU informed the Blue Bulls Board of their intention to offer Heyneke Meyer the position of National Coach.
    The Blue Bulls Board reiterated its position that Meyer is under contract with the Blue Bulls Company and had appointed Meyer as Executive Rugby, only after an undertaking and commitment by Meyer to lead Blue Bulls rugby over the next four years.
    It is the Blue Bulls Board’s position that it would not be in the Blue Bulls interest to release Meyer after many resources and commitments have been made in order to enable Meyer to fulfill his mandate.
    Should Meyer however decide to accept the position of National Coach, he needs to inform the Blue Bulls Board of his decision to abdicate his responsibilities and commitments to the Blue Bulls.
    Although the Blue Bulls Board would be disappointed with such a decision by Meyer, the Board has faith in the coaching structures under the leadership of Frans Ludeke in taking the Bulls into the future.

  • 15

    New Developments regarding Heyneke & The Bulls – see the new Article, just now!

  • 16

    4@ grootblousmile:
    13@ superBul:
    Gio Aplon sustained no serious injuries.

  • 17

    14@ Just For Kicks:But what did anyone expect them to say? We all new how ridiculous it was for SARU to delay and delay the announcement, and to a point where we are just about to “kick off” with the new season. How is any union supposed to be able to plan properly when you have these shenanigans going on. Now HM is going to want to, quite rightly, surround himself with the ‘best’ in the business in order to implement his strategy, and what are the Unions who will lose more personnel going to think of that. They too will be pretty pissed off.

    Take the Rassie situation, how much of it was the inability to work with WPRU, and how much was his leaving due to the up coming announcement. Whichever it is, with Nienaber about to be named as well, Stormers – whatever we think of them – are going to be in a similar situation to the Bulls. And pretty pissed off, I would think.

    SARU has a lot to answer for, and all unions affected must be compensated accordingly.

  • 18

    Maybe Rassie will take over at The Bulls?

  • 19

    18 @ Loosehead:
    The Bulls can’t Disco… they only do the Langarm-sokkie!

    So Rassie won’t fit in… hehehe

  • 20

    grootblousmile wrote:

    I am invicible.. well I was….
    Ai oh, ai oh it’s off to the Physio I go…
    Chat later!

    [Translate]

    Dink jy het dalk jou laaste lewe van die nege wat jy gehad get, gebruik. Gehoor van jou motor ongeluk. Bly om te hoor jy’s ok.

  • 21

    dont you think that SARU will ‘frown’ on the Bulls for making an early media release?
    Dis mos TOP SECRET….
    hahahaha as if the whole country does not know by now who the new coach is!!!!!!

    think the Blue Bulls Company did that just because they are irritated with SARU for taking their man……

  • 22

    7@ grootblousmile:Was it a revolving restaurant, or were you just trying to ‘come out of the closet’? – So many closets in Seapoint have been fitted with revolving doors now to try and speed up the process!

  • 23

    9@ Loosehead:HaHaHa touché

  • 24

    22 @ Just For Kicks:
    You never been in the revolving restaurant in the Ritz?

    Don’t know if it still exists, but it was a real treat to eat there whilst going round by 360 degrees.

    The Ritz was fancy in it’s day…

  • 25

    24@ grootblousmile:Nope, never heard of it, but then I’ve never eaten in Seapoint either

  • 26

    25 @ Just For Kicks:
    Mmmm, and here I thought you were a candidate for Mr Seapoint 1989… looks like I was wrong… hahaha

  • 27

    Following up on the Gio crash, it seems that only minor bruises to the arm were all that was sustained.

  • 28

    27 @ Just For Kicks:
    Sjoe, I’m glad he’s OK.

  • 29

    @ Just For Kicks:
    @ grootblousmile:
    The revolving restaurant is still going, it is a huge flash back to the 70’s, when GBS was still young and beautiful. [ Now he is just young].Food is good, decor a bit dated.
    The hotel is now a dump used by low budget Germans and lots of low level government officials.

  • 30

    The Ritz is where I got my first Honeymoon tan…. in 1988.

    Do you know what a honeymoon tan is?

    It is a vertical tan stripe, about an inch wide, from your forehead down your nose and over your chin.

    You know why?

    It’s from just peaking through the curtain and formally announcing to your bride that it is still raining outside (not that it was indeed raining).

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