Paige, Papier pawns in a power game

Heinz Schenk

One of the more awkward dynamics in South African rugby is how national and franchise coaches differ in opinion on a player. There have been various examples over the years, but let’s focus on the two most recent cases.

Rudy Paige’s career, in all honesty, is in limbo.

He’s languishing on the fringes of the Cheetahs team as coach Franco Smith and Co still prefer Shaun Venter – with some merit given that he’s captain too.

In fact, the move to Bloemfontein only came because they were willing to give Paige a new lease of life after initially taking him on trial because John Mitchell didn’t want him at the Bulls.

The problem is that up until the end of 2017, Paige was then Springbok coach Allister Coetzee’s deputy No 9.

We can’t deny the elephant in this room: who’s judgment should we have trusted? Coetzee or Mitchell?

Tomorrow, another Bulls scrumhalf hopefully experiences a happier ending.

Last year, eyebrows were raised when Mitchell reluctantly gave Embrose Papier game-time at Super Rugby level.

That didn’t bother Rassie Erasmus too much, who still included him in his national squads, even if he only made token replacement appearances on the wing(!).

By the time the 21-year-old returned for Currie Cup action, the awkwardness remained.

Mitchell might’ve left, but Pote Human still wasn’t keen on starting Papier.

Then Papier delivered a fine run-on debut for the Boks against Scotland on the year-end tour, which finally seemed to convince doubters that this gifted young man is the real deal.

It’s therefore highly encouraging that he’ll start against the Stormers at Loftus Versfeld.

Yet the kicker is what Human had to say about him this week.

Human, the epitome of conservatism, believes you “can’t tell Papier what to do because he is a special player with special talents”. Eureka! He gets it! People familiar with the Bulls’ fortunes over the last decade or so will immediately realise how significant those words are.

The franchise has been guilty way too regularly in the past of shackling certain mercurial talents, boxing them into a gameplan instead of building it around them.

Human even believes 2019 is the year Papier “will come of age”.

All we should be worried about at the moment is that the Bulls coach backs him to the hilt.