Jake White

Heyneke Meyer

On Rugby-Talk recently, debate in the comments sections between Sharks supporters and other South African supporters often turned and revolved around Jake White’s management or mismanagement of his core players and around the players who will have to do duty for the national side, the Springboks.

The argument often used by Sharks supporters were that the June Internationals are less important, against weakened sides and that Jake White needed to do exactly like he did, play his players week after week and arguably into the ground.

Players like Tendai ‘Beast’ Mtawarira, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Willem Albers and more pertinetly Francois Steyn have looked increasingly jaded and this past weekend’s Sharks loss against the Stormers was a stark reminder of the situation.

One of the regular journalists I share the Press Box at Loftus Versfeld with, Brenden Nel, of SuperSport, penned an interesting article on this same matter. I think he nails this one on the head, here is what he says:

Brenden Nel – SuperSport

Here we all thought that, for the good of South African rugby, Springbok rugby needs to come first?

After all, that is what counts in most Sanzar countries – the national team, a year before a World Cup, should always take priority.

Not in South Africa.

Any self-respecting rugby fan has to stop and shake his head when hearing Jake White now blames the Springbok training camp for his team’s loss to the Stormers this past weekend?

Last week the Bok management were asked to put certain players on ice – including Frans Steyn – because they were medically unfit to play.

The Boks complied and what did White do? He continued to play these players into the ground.

It is true that the Sharks players are “exhausted” with eight games on the trot and an overseas tour to boot.

In most sides there is a squad system, where players are rotated so that the coach gets the best out of them.

The Bok camp had been planned for months, to coincide with all five franchises being in South Africa. It wasn’t something that was sprung on teams by surprise

The Bulls also had a number of players out this past week and also suffered a shock loss to the Lions, but you never heard them complaining about the Bok camp.

They simply got on with the job, accepted they were not good enough and then moved on.

It is one thing to want the Sharks to do well, and it is increasingly certain that they will be South Africa’s only representatives in the final weeks of Vodacom Super Rugby.

It cannot be at the expense of Springbok rugby.

The irony that White misses is that he used to bemoan Super Rugby coaches overplaying players, and not keeping them fresh for Springbok rugby.

He was the same coach who sent Victor Matfield home from a Tri-Nations tour because he was unfit, only to see Matfield play the next Saturday for the Bulls.

He was also the same coach who chose Chiliboy Ralepelle against overwhelming advice that he was not ready for test rugby, but played him anyway.

In both cases the coach he was at loggerheads with was Heyneke Meyer.

Now Meyer is Springbok coach and, whether you are a Sharks fan or not, the bottom line is that the Springboks remain this country’s first rugby priority.

While I hate to say it, this would never happen in New Zealand.

There the franchises channel up to the All Blacks, and the black jersey is the No 1 priority, even if it harms Super Rugby aspirations.

With their centralised contracting system players are placed on sabbaticals to increase their longevity, their conditioning is done so that they are at their peak when the international season rolls around.

If a player has too much game time, you’d be sure Steve Hansen would be on the line asking for said player to be rested.

In South Africa the tail wags the dog. Jake tells the Bok coach not to train Steyn, then plays him himself.

It is a situation that is alarming in itself, one that will never contribute to the Springbok success, and one which highlights the problems that Saru CEO Jurie Roux is desperately trying to fix.

The bottom line is that Bok rugby matters little to White, except when it is a stepping stone to getting back into the international game.

His history speaks for itself.

In this case the Boks deserve as many fresh players as they can get, and Super Rugby coaches who work with, and not against them ahead of a tough international season.