GARY TEICHMANN
Former Springbok No.8 gives his verdict on new-look South Africa
GARY Teichmann is a South African icon who is revered in both hemispheres. Teichmann is inscribed in the annals of Springbok rugby as the captain who led them on a then world record-equalling 17 Test-winning run in 1997-98 – but the Natal Sharks No.8’s legacy reaches further than that, all the way to the shores of South Wales.
In Newport he is regarded as one of the club’s greats after his three year stint as skipper of the Black & Ambers, which followed his controversial axing from the 1999 Springbok World Cup squad by coach Nick Mallett.
It was typical of Teichmann that he rebounded from that crushing disappointment to take the famous club out of the doldrums to win the Welsh (Principality) Cup in 2001.
Teichmann retired at the end of that season having helped Newport to land their first major title in 24 years, with the cherished memory of overjoyed fans forming a guard of honour to cheer the captain and his heroes into the ground on their return to Rodney Parade after the final.
Twenty years on from his pomp as captain of a South African side which was crowned Tri-Nations champions after an unbeaten tournament in which they beat New Zealand home and away, Teichmann is still in the leadership game.
Having set up a successful excavation business, eighteen months ago rugby came calling again when he was appointed chief executive of the Durban-based Sharks. The quiet-spoken confidence that marked the rangy No.8 out as a captain on the field has transferred to the boardroom.
Teichmann says he likes what he has seen of the new start for South Africa under Rassie Erasmus, with the series against England wrapped up after victories in the first two tests.
“I can’t help but be impressed. The initial start against Wales wasn’t encouraging, but it was a difficult assignment (in America). People were really unsure about how it would pan out, but even though there was a lot of work to do they have showed a lot of spirit and intensity, so I’m very impressed.”
He says the confidence acquired from beating England is crucial in terms of preparation for the Rugby Championship, but that even though the Springboks are still playing catch-up, Erasmus is an intelligent operator who has got South Africa’s Super Rugby franchises on side.
“Rassie has an enormous challenge because he’s not got a lot of time to prepare for the World Cup. The good thing is that he and the franchise coaches are working very closely together – for instance, the Springbok defence coach Jacques Nienaber has been to Australia with the Sharks. It is something Rassie has instigated and the franchises have agreed to as a useful twoway street.” He adds: “It’s tough getting back to former glory. The Boks have got 18 matches until the 2019 World Cup, whereas New Zealand and Australia have had three years to build. However, I believe we have the players to compete...”
Teichmann’s experience as the Springbok captain whose 17-match run was halted by England when they lost 13-7 at Twickenham at the end of 1998, gives him a special insight into what Eddie Jones’ side is facing in the nosedive that has followed the new joint world record they set with New Zealand last year of 18wins.
Ask Teichmann, who was dropped after subsequent losses to Wales and a 28-0 reverse by the All Blacks in Dunedin, why it is so difficult to sustain winning runs and he offers this observation: “There is one team, New Zealand, who have been able to dominate for the last two years, but for others it is very competitive at the top. If you don’t take your opportunities and you lose you are suddenly on the back foot with four or five teams hunting you. All it takes is a bad day or a couple of bad calls.”
He says: “Winning becomes a habit, and so does losing. Definitely. Eddie Jones has made changes with more young guys coming in, and the pressure is on. You have to be wary of that downward spiral because it’s very difficult to halt. You just have to grind out a win, especially when you are 20 points up as England were in the first Test here. It is a tactical failing, and they could be going into their shells and diverting way from what worked for them before.”
Teichmann continues: “Maybe there are a few cracks, and the interview with the scrum-half (Ben Youngs) walking out shows the pressure. This is where the leadership has to show, and where the management has to take the load.” Teichmann says South Africa were in a similar situation in 1998. “We had a really good end of year tour when we were winning by good margins, but then we could feel as a team that players were fatigued and not playing as well as they had been. We had the Tri Nations and then it was straight into the 1999 World Cup – and I wasn’t part of that. We started losing and Nick Mallett thought that when other teams caught us up that he had to make changes.” Mallett decided Teichmann had lost form, but when he was axed the outcry that followed showed the esteem in which he was held. Teichmann was devastated, but says he recognised that life goes on, and that it is a message he tries to impart to the Sharks squad. “At the time you don’t think you’ll get over it, but we’ve moved on. What I tell the guys is that if you go into pro sport you will have a couple of bumps along the way, so you’ve got to manage it.” He adds that he had felt the heat before,
“Eddie Jones is a very astute coach... I think he will find a way to get it right”
when he faced the 1997 Lions series soon after he was made captain: “I’d been through pressure when under Carel du Plessis we lost to the 1997 Lions. That Lions team was maybe man-for-man not as good a team as ours...those were difficult times.”
However, Teichmann says the move to Newport was the antidote he needed. “I’d spent all my time at the Sharks, and if I’d stayed here in South Africa I would have been looking backwards after losing the captaincy, so it was the right time for me to go. Joining Newport was great from a family perspective, and it was great to have an owner like Tony Brown who took a real interest in us not just as players but off the pitch as well.
“I wasn’t used to the conditions, and at times I questioned why I was there from a weather perspective, but I enjoyed it.”
He says it gave him an important perspective when the Springbok and Sharks fly-half Pat Lambie decided to move from Durban to Paris to join Racing 92. “He’s recently been in a similar position, and I could not disagree with him going (to Racing), even though there were contracts in place.”
Teichmann says that another factor is that the production line of talented young players, with an increased number from the black community coming through, means that rugby in KwaZulu-Natal is looking healthy again.
However, Teichmann says that while “transformation” is the buzzword in South African rugby, the Sharks have always had an open-door policy – and that the rise of Tendai Mtawarira to become a Springbok centurion tells the tale.
“The nature of the Sharks from day one has been to welcome guys from all over – the culture here is open to any person, and that’s been a success. To get a guy like Tendai Mtawarira, who commits to one province/club, is quite unique these days. He’s been a cornerstone of the Sharks for a number of years, and it’s a hell of an achievement for him to win 100 caps – especially as he moved from loose forward to prop late on, and it couldn’t have been easy.”
He adds: “Sharks backs like S’busiso Nkosi and Lukhanyo Am are helping South Africa to get back on track, but we need to transfer what they are doing for the Boks to the Sharks, because we have not achieved what we want to recently.”
Teichmann says that the future looks full of sustainable promise thanks to the schools game. “There are so many good young black players coming through the Sharks, and the quicker we can move away from the idea of transformation to merit the better. It is the schools in KwaZulu Natal who are making it happen, with guys coming through from the Model C state schools as well as the private schools.”
His principle reservation is that there may be too many pro rugby players in South Africa: “Making it more competitive could be beneficial. There are 900 pro rugby players in South Africa, and over 400 overseas, and I’m not sure the strategy to have a broad base is working.”
When it comes to the Springboks, Teichmann says he is not going to get too gung-ho: “It’s early days. We’ve had a bad six years, so I’m not jumping up and down yet – but it’s a good start. “Faf de Klerk has made a very impressive contribution, and Duane Vermeulen has really stood out. “For a newcomer like Lukhanyo Am, you need three or four Tests to get used to that intensity. “Your first Test goes very quickly, your second you settle in, and in your third you start to click.” When it comes to clicking at the World Cup, he says South Africa and England have work to do, but in both cases says there is room for cautious optimism. “Eddie Jones is a very astute coach and I think he will find a way to get it right. So I do see England being competitive.” He adds: “For South Africa it depends on the Rugby Championship, and if we can be consistently competitive. You are pitting yourself against the best – the All Blacks – and we’ll have to see how we go against them.” New Zealand remain the only rugby yardstick that South Africans truly measure themselves by, and you would not expect Teichmann, as captain of one of the great Springbok sides, to be anything other than true to type.