Old boy Botha’s advice to Bulls: Relax and enjoy the final

SA rugby’s common goal

IT HAS been a touch over a decade since Gary Botha led an unfancied Blue Bulls team to a pulsating 28-28 draw against the Free State Cheetahs in the Currie Cup final.

An unlikely captain at the time and a hooker never given his dues, Botha knows all about going to Bloemfontein as underdogs but believes this Bulls team have it in them to SPRINGBOK coach Allister Coetzee says South Africans are “thumb-sucking” if they believe that South Africa is the best rugby nation in the world.

Coetzee was speaking on the first day of the two-day coaching indaba hosted by SA Rugby in Cape Town yesterday, where a number of rugby figures gathered to try and find a solution to the country’s rugby crisis.

The Springboks have had a nightmare year, losing five out of nine Tests, including defeats to Ireland and Argentina, and a record 57-15 hiding at the hands of the All Blacks.

At the indaba, facilitated by Brendan Venter and Pieter Kruger, Coetzee emphasised the importance of a national strategy between Super Rugby coaches and the Springboks.

“I think we are living in our own little kingdoms, and we are hoping, and we are thumb-sucking, that we are the best rugby nation in world rugby.

“I would like to take a look at what we’d like to get out of our indaba, just the vision – striving for rugby excellence and continuous improvement, enabling us to pull off a major coup against the overwhelming favourites and undefeated Cheetahs side.

Now the scrum doctor at the Bulls, Botha laughs off that tag and in the spirit become the top rugby nation. We aren’t, we are not the top rugby nation.

“There must be alignment between the Springboks and the Super Rugby coaches, and vice versa, in identifying technical shortcomings that impact on the performances of all our teams.

“It is also important to discuss and share contemporary trends, opportunities and ultimately a common philosophy so that we can ensure continuous improvement and have an agreement on how to identify and address these shortcomings,” Coetzee said.

Because players spend great periods with their franchises and about only 18 weeks with the national set-up, Coetzee further elaborated on the importance of cohesion between Super Rugby coaches and the Springboks.

“How long does it take to form a habit? How long does it take to form a skill, or implement a skill under pressure? Therefore, alignment is important. We cannot be successful without you guys sitting here.

“When our Super Rugby teams do well, look at our ranking as a national team. I was part of the 2007 era, where we won the World Cup and had 22 of the 31 players from the two Super Rugby finalist teams (Bulls and Sharks). It’s a clear parallel – Super Rugby, franchises, Springboks, we have to work hand in glove.’

Interim Saru president Mark Alexander said that he hoped that the Indaba would be the beginning of a new chapter in SA rugby.

“Hopefully, in a few years’ time, we will look back at this with a sense of achievement.” of the Blue Bulls teams of 2002 and 2006, who beat the Golden Lions and drew with the Cheetahs, believes it will come down to the team that grabs their opportunities on the day and not what they did during the season.

“It will be typical finals rugby and it boils down to the team that can execute their plan to the best of their abilities. They’ve been prepped well, finals rugby you can’t do anything specific, you have to go out there and play. It is all about the team that takes the opportunities in implementing the game plan in that game,” Botha, said.

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And even though the Bulls are faced with what seems like an insurmountable mountain to climb, Botha says the experience the team has gained from their failed semi-final last year and also winning last week’s semi-final against Western Province, has helped in the evolution of the team and their belief that beating the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein is possible.

Said Botha: “I don’t really worry about underdogs, heroes and those type of cliché tags people give teams.

“I do believe that these young guys have been exposed to situations where they pick up the necessary experience.

“As the team grows, time progresses and so do teams and players progress and develop and that is the biggest thing we are trying to get into place here.

“You will get tested in certain games and this team have grown together and hopefully picking up together the experience as a team.”

Botha believes that there is only so much the management can do and all of what unravels on the field will rest on the shoulders of the players.

Utmost, though, for Botha is that the players enjoy the moment of being in a final but they must not lose sight of why they are there even though it seems as if everything will be against them at a stadium where they were convincingly beaten 43-20 by the Cheetahs.

“I think the energy in the group is good and the guys have been exposed to semi-finals for two years in a row now.

“The thing we’ll just preach and what coach Nollis Marais has been preaching is to take the opportunities, enjoy it and just play. That’s the outlook we have for the final.

“I don’t think there is anything specific that one can say to the young players about a final. We are not on the pitch, they’ll be on the pitch,” he concluded.