Springbok coaches under scrutiny
In this new edition of The Poisoned Chalice, rugby writer Gavin Rich takes us past the disappointment of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, right up to the appointment of Allister Coetzee in April, and dissects not only the successes and failures of these two Spri
IF YOU’RE wondering why a blueprint is so important, consider the upheaval Springbok rugby undergoes every time a new coach comes in and tries to reinvent the wheel. It was a disaster with Carel du Plessis, as it was to an extent with (Harry) Viljoen, and even in the initial stages of Peter de Villiers’s reign. At least the existence of a blueprint might prevent repetition of the same old mistakes.
Hopefully a blueprint, as well as a grading system for coaches, which would make the selection of the national coach more scientific than it has been up to now, will usher in a new era and put an end to the roller-coaster ride Mark Andrews felt he was on during his years as a player.
As he told me: “If I can make an observation, all or most of the Springbok coaches start off by being naive and then, by the time they wise up, they are exiting the door.
“To be the Bok coach, you need to have a relatively big ego. So they come in feeling themselves capable of doing the job, and they have wonderful ideas and grandiose plans…
“Then they start getting frustrated when they realise that theory differs from reality. By the time they start wising up, they start fighting with Saru, and then they’re out the door. We have seen this same movie many times… Sadly there is no school for coaches…”
Well that might change if (André) Markgraaff has anything to do with it. Although he is not involved in rugby at the moment, he says if he ever returns it will be to set up a coaching academy.
“We would solve a lot of problems if we had a coaching institute where prospective coaches can go to learn the craft,” Markgraaff says.
“It must be linked to a university, with infrastructure already in place. There are enough coaching jobs available now to justify such an institution. The schools don’t use teachers to coach any more. There are schools paying their coaches up to 70 percent of what the coaches at professional unions get.”
Markgraaff left rugby in 2005 in disgust at aspects of Brian van Rooyen’s administration, but before that he was one of the few former Springbok coaches who still had some kind of influence on the Bok system. The other was Ian McIntosh.
McIntosh came back to serve a long stint with the Springboks as a national selector up until the end of the last World Cup, a period of 12 years. After being sacked as Bok coach, he got straight back on the horse, as it were, and coached the Sharks to two more Currie Cup titles before ending his career in Wales. But what happened to the rest? John Williams returned to Northern Transvaal for two separate stints as coach, before eventually calling it a day at the end of 1997 to take over the family farm near Alldays.
“In 1995/96, after I’d been a Springbok selector, the Bulls approached me and said they wanted to establish a rugby academy at Loftus. I listened to the Bulls’ proposal and agreed to help them out, on condition that coaching wouldn’t be part of my job description.
“But the Bulls were soon in the s*** again… and I took over for a while with Eugene van Wyk. I decided to call it a day when I was told the players were unhappy because I was too strict.
“The culture of the game had changed. Gone were the days when the team would sit in the changeroom afterwards like a big, happy family. The new era of players would come in from the field, strap on their Rolexes and head out. I didn’t want to be a part of that.”
Kitch Christie, battling illness, presided over a disastrous Super 12 campaign with the Lions in 1996, and was then equally unsuccessful at Northern Transvaal the following year. He died on April 22, 1998.
Carel du Plessis spent a few years coaching Western Province and serving as Gert Smal’s assistant at the Stormers before he parted ways with the union in 2005, following Nick Mallett’s appointment as director of rugby. Although no longer involved in coaching, he still feels strongly about the game and the direction it should take.
“I want to see a bit more risk in modern rugby. I think we need to make coaches and unions aware of the need to put on an entertaining product so that the sport can survive challenges from alternative sports,” says Du Plessis.
He would get involved again if the right opportunity presented itself, and with the degree of specialisation now required in coaching rugby, that is not impossible. Markgraaff always said Du Plessis would make an excellent attack coach.
Jake White ended up coaching the Brumbies in Australia, and did so with a great degree of success. He then took the Sharks to their first Super Rugby conference title before resigning his position, probably because he wasn’t able to employ the heavyweight management team he wanted. He is now successful with Montpellier in France, and if winning was the prime requisite for a Bok coach, White should have been the leading candidate to replace Meyer. Like him or hate him, the 2007 World Cup winner gets results.
Rudolf Straeuli spent some years helping to identify talent in his capacity as commercial manager at the Sharks, and it was only after he left that union to take up the chief executive position at the union where he ended his playing career, the Lions, that his true worth was appreciated by the rugby people of Durban.
Peter de Villiers is a sore point. He spent a few years trying to turn the University of the Western Cape into a rugby powerhouse, but didn’t succeed. He hasn’t been offered any major rugby jobs.
Heyneke Meyer was understood to be in the running for the position of director of rugby at Bath at the time of writing. Hopefully he does get a top job, as technically he is one of the finest South African coaches.
On the subject of Meyer, one thing South African Rugby has got right is the degree of continuity that has been secured through the retention of Johann van Graan as one of the assistant coaches, and Ian Schwartz as team manager.
Van Graan allegedly gave Allister Coetzee the option to release him from his contract when he, too, was being courted by Bath (who were chasing Van Graan rather than Meyer) but Coetzee told Van Graan he wanted him to stay on, which is a credit to Coetzee.
After his tenure with the Boks ended, Mallett went on to coach Stade Français to French and European titles before becoming Western Province director of rugby, and then coach of Italy. He is now an analyst for SuperSport.
Markgraaff thinks being a TV analyst is a waste of Mallett’s talent, and he makes an interesting point. “Nick (will be turning 59 at the time of writing) and should be in the prime of his coaching life right now. He was just 39 when he served as my assistant coach. You haven’t learnt life’s lessons at that age. The Springbok coaches have generally been too young. I’m a lot wiser now than I was when I was coach.”
Indeed, he is in agreement with Laurie Mains, the legendary All Blacks coach. When Sarfu axed Mallett just as he seemed to be improving his team’s game during the 2000 season, Mains said: “Coaching is about learning from your mistakes, and unfortunately in South Africa no one gets a chance to do that.” On those points, Mallett can only agree with both Markgraaff and Mains.
“I was very arrogant about the knowledge I had,” says Mallett. “I had come from France, where coaching and strategy were more advanced. But I’ve changed since then. And yes, you do learn from your mistakes. You never learn from a dream start, as my career with the Boks will tell you.”
As it turns out, the New Zealand experience underscores these sentiments. Graham Henry was 57, only just younger than Mallett is now, when he was appointed to coach the All Blacks. He blew one World Cup attempt when his team was beaten in the 2007 quarter-final in Cardiff, but was given a chance to redeem himself and ended up winning the Webb Ellis trophy at the age of 65.
I can’t think of any South African coach currently active in the professional game anywhere near that age. And only two of the surviving post-isolation Bok coaches, Williams and McIntosh, are older than Henry was when he achieved his crowning moment. There are too many South African coaches in their prime who have given up on coaching after the system chewed them up and spat them out.
If a coaching infrastructure is introduced, the Springbok teams of the future should be more efficient.