Heyneke Meyer

We have received a request by a reader and newly registered blogger here on Rugby-Talk.com, Helgaard, to place an ARTICLE here on Rugby-Talk, containing an OPEN LETTER by him to SA Rugby, all supporters and interested parties as well as decision-makers in our country.

The topic of the Letter, follows the trend and main topic of discussion amongst Springbok supporters, namely whether Heyneke Meyer should stay on as coach, or whether he should go.

In his well-worded and well-reasoned letter, Helgaard supports the “Heyneke Must Fall” stance on the matter, and seeing as Rugby-Talk.com is “By the people, for the people” we gladly place relevant and requested reader content here on Rugby-Talk.com… once if conforms to the necessary literary requirements, of course. I wish more readers would act like Helgaard and send me their contributions, as it could lead to Rugby-Talk.com really becoming the official voice of the marginalized supporter out there and depicting the views of the average rugby supporter and not for supporters to be boxed in by the normal way media steers things to suit their own agendas.

Helgaard’s views are his own and does not necessarily reflect the views of this publication.

Without further a do… here is Helgaard’s Letter in it’s entirity:

WHY HEYNEKE MUST FALL…

Background to the article

As a dedicated Springbok supporter, I watched my fair share of the 48 games played at the Rugby World Cup 2015, including the 7 Tests in which the Springboks featured. I also watched all of the other 40 Tests played since Heyneke Meyer took over as the Springbok coach.

I have been inspired by the comments that I have heard from astute observers of the game and the SuperSport panel during the Rugby World Cup and what I have read from respected journalists about the state of Springbok rugby. I feel strongly that the voiceless supporters of the Springboks should be able to communicate their opinions, because this wonderful game doesn’t belong to SARU alone. It belongs to all those who have faithfully supported our team over all these years. For these reasons I have decided to make a contribution by writing my views on why “Heyneke must fall!!”

I was also encouraged by the contributions of former Springboks, like Stefan Terblanche in an article in the Mercury and Wynand Claassen and Divan Serfontein in the Sunday Times. They all came to the same conclusions that Heyneke’s game plan and stereotyped playing style, with its inherent inadequacies, won’t take the Springboks to the next level.

It is well known that SARU pays scant attention to the views of the supporters, treating them as consumers rather than as stakeholders and as it is very difficult to communicate constructively with SARU and for this reason you need to resort to different ways of getting your views across. It has become a malaise in our country that the aggrieved consumers have to revert to alternative methods of getting their views across.

I have prepared my contribution to the debate, as supporters are increasingly pleading for constructive change so that South Africa can again emerge as a proud rugby-playing country. I acknowledge that getting rid of Heyneke is only one part of the solution, as there has to be structural changes in the way we approach and play the game. Yet I still believe that we have to be saved from what Heyneke stands for.

How should we judge Heyneke?

I think it is fair to say that every coach should be fairly judged on his tenure in charge of the Springbok team and after his first Rugby World Cup. The time has arrived to judge Heyneke and I have outlined some of the reasons why it would be ill advised to extend his contract.

Consider the following:

Some background

1. There is a massive gap between the All Blacks and the rest of the world in the way that they approach and play the game.

2. The clear signals are there that if the rugby system in South Africa doesn’t adapt dramatically, the Boks will keep on losing ground and won’t be good enough to compete against countries like New Zealand or Australia. This is based on the form that they showed during the Rugby World Cup. It is, however, relevant and fair to ask what role the coach has played in the demise of Springboks rugby?

3. Heyneke sometimes distorts facts so that his coaching efforts can be viewed in a more positive light. Consider just some of the many misleading statements that he has made:

• On arriving back in South Africa after the Rugby World Cup, he mentioned that the only difference between the Boks and the All Blacks was Dan Carter’s drop goal. This is a gross distortion and a misleading claim. It doesn’t acknowledge the undeniable fact that the Boks were outplayed by the All Blacks in most facets of the game.
• Heyneke also claimed that 80% to 90% of the current players would be available for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. I doubt whether more than 70% will be available.

Heyneke’s record

4. Heyneke has only won 1 out of 8 games against the All Blacks and I can’t imagine that many international coaches would have survived such a record? It gets worse when you consider that:

• He hasn’t won a single Rugby Championship (Four Nations) and in 2015 he took the Boks to an all-time low by not winning one game in The Rugby Championship.
• During the End-Of-Year tour in 2014 he lost to both Ireland and Wales. Wales at that stage had only beaten the Boks once in 109 years of competing;
• This was followed by our first-ever losses against the Argentinian Pumas and Japan.

5. Wynand and Divan posed the question what fate would have befallen Steve Hansen, the All Black coach, if his team lost against Argentina and then losing to Japan at the Rugby World Cup and returned home with only a bronze medal as a conciliation price?

Question marks about Heyneke’s game plan as an international coach

6. Heyneke has been slow to adapt to the changing playing environment in the world and when under pressure his default position is to revert to his conservative playing style.

7. As Wynand and Divan have pointed out, he is a pattern rugby coach instead of coaching individual skills. He is obsessed with size and power. His archaic style doesn’t work, but he is persisting with it while the rest of the world has moved on to playing total 15-man rugby. As a consequence all other countries know exactly what the Springboks will do and plan accordingly.

8. During the last year he has not impressed as a technically capable coach. He seems reluctant to experiment with new ideas. During the Rugby World Cup he was out-smarted a few times by other coaches. Consider the following:

• Early in 2015, the Argentinians surprised the Boks with their ball in hand approach and outplayed them with their fast-paced game;
• The Japanese were well prepared against the Boks and they anticipated virtually every move that that the Boks used against them. The Boks were also caught flat-footed when Japan scored the last try.  Eddie Jones, their coach, remarked that they knew exactly what the Springboks would do and they were prepared for it;
• In the semifinal, the All Blacks kept putting kicks in behind the Boks and turning them around. They beat the Boks by stealing 4 lineouts, missing only 3 tackles out of 86, (Boks lost 20 out of 151) and they won more gain line collisions.

9. Nic Mallet has commented that Heyneke game plan is based on No 9 controlling the game and deciding to whom the ball should be passed. Most other teams allow their No 10 to control the game as they are in a far better position to pick the runners that could break the advantage line.

The big problem – Lack of skills and what has Heyneke done about it?

10. During Heyneke’s tenure there has been very little improvement in the skill levels of the Boks and one must question whether this was treated as a priority area. In 2015, the Boks were characterised by poor aerial skills, they often used poor exit strategies and the line kicking by the two pivotal players (Pollard and Le Roux) were unacceptable. These skills were below international standard and need to be fixed if the Boks want to make progress.

11. In the Sunday Times of 1 November, Heyneke is quoted as saying in defence of his game plan that there was “only one way for the Boks to play”, because the team did not have the necessary skills to do it differently. This is an astounding statement as by implication he is saying that the Boks don’t possess the ability to improve their skills. They, however, had the skills to adapt to his pattern style of playing? That is probably the crux of where Heyneke has failed as a coach. He has put the Springboks back a further 4 years and it is a dreadful thought that we might have to endure him for another 4 years.

12. Consider how the All Blacks reacted after 2009, when they lost 3 times against the Springboks. Collectively they improved their aerial skills, strengthened their back three so that they could add another attacking option by running from deep.

13. A weakness over the years has been that Bok runners often die with the ball without attempting to find support players. Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel are both players who have the ability to break the advantage line, but they often fail to pass the ball to a linking player. These are basic things that any coach has the ability to improve, but Heyneke has failed in this regard.

14. Heyneke places inordinate reliance on players and officials that are close to him, rather than questioning what is the best is for the Springboks.

Transformation Record

Heyneke’s transformation record has been described as woeful. Under pressure he took 9 Black players out of 31 to the Rugby World Cup. Only Bryan Habana, JP Pietersen, Beast Mtawarira and Damian de Allende got regular game time. Trevor Nyakane was involved in every game, but as part of the bench.  Lwazi Mvovo played two-and-half games while Siya Kolisi and Rudy Page only appeared twice off the bench.

I think Heyneke missed a golden opportunity to bring some more and talented players into the Springbok frame. By doing that, he would create role models for more than 90% of South Africa’s population who are ‘black’, to increase our current pool of rugby players significantly. There will continue to be pressure on the Springboks to increase the quotas as the new Transformation Charter has been presented to the Government and it is cast in stone. There will have to be a concerted effort to bring more Black players into the system. Is Heyneke the man who will achieve this?

Has Heyneke enhanced the standing of the Boks in world terms?

Perhaps we were given a clear message on how the state of Springbok rugby is perceived by the international community when the Springboks weren’t nominated for any of the awards presented at the conclusion of the Rugby World Cup. The only South African in the awards was, Werner Kok, who was chosen as the best Sevens player in 2015.

During the last year the standing of the Springboks in the rugby playing community has declined and South Africa is no longer the feared rugby playing country we once were. During the Rugby World Cup a number of countries like Wales and Scotland seriously rated their chances of beating the Boks. It will be the case in the future because of our predictable game plan and if our tactics remain the same.

Heyneke also comes across on TV as not being in control of his own emotions. One can only wonder what persona he presents when dealing with his players in a playing field or team room environment.

Wynand and Divan asked the question: “Can SA rugby afford to have someone who behaves like a maniac in the coaching enclosure, wearing his Springbok blazer, in the eyes of the whole world on television?” My allied question is whether a coach who so consistently loses his cool can be reasonably expected to take a professional side to the next level?   

How we can move forward?

A lot needs to change in South African rugby for the Springboks to be successful at the next Rugby World Cup. The first acknowledgment has to be that there are structural problems with the way we play rugby which needs to be addressed at national level. The coach is not the only person to blame, but you need to put a coaching structure in place that can best deal with the structural deficiencies.

Our problems cannot be fixed in the short term and it will take the concerted effort and commitment of the rugby community to do so. There has consistently been talk about this and it can be done and for once the lead must come from the top and SARU must show the commitment to making the tough decisions. The need to contract the Springboks players on a national rather than on a provincial basis, Central Contracting, has been consistent topic of discussion. This way their progress and workload can be properly planned without a fair percentage of the Springboks plying their trade overseas.

The problems can only be fixed if there is an acceptance that the Boks won’t be good enough unless our rugby system changes. My overwhelming impression after putting these comments together is that the Springboks will struggle to show meaningful improvement if the current coaching staff remains. Before any remedial action can commence “Heyneke must fall.”

Helgaard