Mallett TV spat reveals the split in SA rugby
THE disunity in the England camp raised by Eddie Jones was thrown into sharp relief this week by the deep-rooted issues of racial discrimination that still stalk South African rugby, highlighted by the walk-out of former Springbok wing Ashwin Willemse on a TV rugby show.
The spectre of racism in South African rugby reared up when Willemse, a coloured wing who played 19 Tests and was a member of the 2007 South Africa World Cup-winning squad, made a pointed attack on his white
SuperSports co-hosts Nick Mallett and Naas Botha live on air last weekend.
Following a commercial break Willemse made a comment which was sufficiently cogent and calm for it to have been pre-prepared as opposed to one made in the heat of the moment, before walking off stage.
He said: “I’ve been in the game for a long time. As a player, I’ve been called a quota for a long time, and I’ve worked very hard to earn the respect I have now. I’m not going to sit here and be patronised by these two individuals, who played their rugby during the apartheid era, a segregated era.”
Willemse added, that he “can’t work with people who undermine other people”.
The walk-out sparked a nationwide debate which ranged from how people from different racial backgrounds in South Africa are treated in the workplace, to whether a difference of opinion in analysis of a sport can be considered racist.
The debate has polarised South African society, dominating social media. There were upwards of 200,000 tweets on the subject, knocking the Royal Wedding into second place in the trending charts, and this week the media scrum has intensified.
After a clear-the-air meeting on Monday between the heads of SuperSport, Willemse, former Springbok coach Mallett, and former Springbok fly-half and captain Botha, the TV company’s chief executives Gideon Khobane and Calvo Malewa announced that race did not play a role in the incident.
The narrative of events that began to filter through from the meeting was that Willemse’s opportunity to give his opinion on the Super Rugby matches being played was cut down due to production exigencies which neither Mallett nor Botha had any influence over.
However, any hopes of a swift resolution were dashed on Friday when the company issued a statement that, despite good initial progress the matter had not been resolved, and that therefore the three presenters would not
“There were 200,000 tweets on the subject, knocking the Royal Wedding into second place”
appear on-air this weekend, although none of them had been suspended.
The story behind the story is one that speaks more of a character clash, especially between Willemse and Mallett, than racism – which is exacerbated by their different backgrounds.
Willemse, comes from a poor Afrikaans-speaking background, raised in a broken home in the town of Caledon near Cape Town, where many of the young men gravitate towards, gangs and drug abuse. His exceptional rugby talent, and his desire to succeed, gave him a way out and he took it with both hands.
That makes him the polar opposite of Mallett, who comes from a well-to-do Cape English family, was privately educated, and won a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University, and rose through the rugby ranks as a talented No.8 to become a Western Province star.
When Mallett went into coaching his strength of character and ability saw him break the Afrikaner grip on Springbok coaching, becoming coach of South Africa from 1997 to 2000, taking them on a then world record-equalling 17-match winning run.
Subsequent coaching stints in Europe with Stade Francais and Italy enhanced Mallett’s profile, and his articulate delivery and trenchant views makes him a natural as a TV commentator.
Having pulled himself up by the boot straps Willemse is also opinionated and strong-willed, and there have been some robust debates between the two – and with Botha – in the few years they have shared the SuperSport platform.
Another part of the sub-plot is that Willemse is becoming involved increasingly in politics, and campaigns for the ruling ANC – whose sports minister, Toko Xasa, said that, “The continued appearance of Mallett and Botha will be seen as an endorsement of their alleged racist behaviour.”
A contributory factor to the blackwhite rugby split could also be the recent decision by the SA Rugby Union to lift the ban on overseas-based Springboks, most of whom are white. Any weakening around quota targets, which stipulate that the 2019 South Africa World Cup squad must be 50 per cent non-white, will have stirred up tensions.
However, new Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus could have a readymade remedy at hand in the shape of Stormers back row forward Siya Kolisi, who has all the right credentials to become the first black rugby captain of South Africa.
Kolisi is not only worth his place in the team on merit, he is one of those players who leads from the front.
He grew up in the impoverished Zwide township outside Port Elizabeth and won a scholarship to one of the country’s top rugby schools, Grey High, after being spotted in a youth tournament.
At 26, and with 28 caps behind him, Kolisi could become the unifying force that South African rugby is still searching for as the England tour approaches.