Meyer at risk of too much faith in experience
Coach could learn Gerrard lesson from Liverpool boss
HEYNEKE Meyer thought he had time but in truth he never did.
That reality dawned on the Springbok coach as he named his 23-man squad for yesterday’s clash against the Wallabies earlier this week, alongside team manager Ian Schwartz at an underpopulated Victoria’s Room of the Hilton Hotel.
The three years in charge have gone by quickly. All along Meyer thought he was stewing a hearty balanced meal, but suddenly he’s left with Jelly Tots in his hands and dinner time is fast approaching.
“I never thought I’d have one or two players with no test caps going into the last year before the World Cup,” he said.
“But that shows that there are always youngsters pushing to get in. That said, you need experience in vital positions.”
In the three years between yesterday’s test match against Australia and the one against England at Kings Park in 2012 — his first in charge — Meyer wanted to equip youngsters with enough international caps in time for the World Cup starting in Britain in September.
It is what Jake White did in 2004 and what any other smart, resourceful coach would do. To an extent he got what he wanted. Eben Etzebeth is already one of the best No 4s in the world at just 23 years and is equipped with 34 test caps. Flanker Marcell Coetzee (27 caps), flyhalf Handre Pollard (10), hooker Adriaan Strauss (45) and fullback Willie le Roux (25) have also blossomed.
But somewhere along the line it wasn’t enough and what started as a need to plug gaps left behind by White’s (or Pieter de Villiers’) seniors, turned into an obsession with experience and then ultimately desperation. Now, it is the only thing anyone is talking about — experience versus youth; wisdom versus form.
Once veteran lock Victor Matfield came out of retirement, scrumhalf Fourie du Preez was coerced back from Japan, so too was outside centre Jaque Fourie and at some point flanker Juan Smith, loosehead prop Gurthro Steenkamp and lock Bakkies Botha made comebacks, before reneging on them.
“You definitely need experience and I know it’s a cliché and everyone speaks about it,” said Meyer. “All over the world and even in business, you need experienced people because they have been there, especially in dealing with pressure.
“When they are under pressure, players can do things that you as a coach wonder what they are doing. It can sometimes look like they are not being coached at all.
“Experience brings the sta- bility and youth brings the excitement. Wherever I go, I get questioned why I don’t pick youngsters but if you look at our team, there are 21-year-olds like Pollard and [Jesse] Kriel.
“What I wanted for this World Cup were young guys with at least 30 to 35 test caps. Eben and Marcell started at 21 and they are both 24 and younger. There are still enough youngsters but you need guys that have been to World Cups around them.
“When the knockout stages come, the pressure will really be on. Guys with cool heads, who won’t give away stupid penalties, will be needed.” Now everyone is in a rush. Du Preez is in a hurry to recover from a leg injury, eighthman Duane Vermeulen from neck surgery and centre Jean de Villiers is in a rush to be match fit by the time the Boks arrive in Brighton, England. The pups, meanwhile, are doing some last-minute cramming.
Meyer insists: “You need guys that can perform under pressure and those guys are often the experienced ones.”
A couple of floors away from Meyer’s room at the Hilton was Brendan Rodgers, the Liverpool manager, who knows too well the dangers of putting too much faith in an old head.
If Meyer and Rodgers found time to share a cup of tea, while their respective players were exchanging “selfies” in the lobby during their stay in Brisbane this week, the former would have learnt from the Northern Irishman the dangers of a senior player staying even a season too long.
It is history now but Liverpool’s greatest player of this century, Steven Gerrard, cost the Reds the Premier League title two seasons ago with an illfated slip. Rather Meyer learns the lesson from Rodgers because the World Cup isn’t going to bring the reality politely.