Jobless Germans in World Cup mix despite seasonof turmoil
BRENDAN GALLAGHER talks to Germany coach Mauritz Botha ahead of the RQC qualifier with Samoa
“Collude with Stade? We would be eyeballs out to give them a bloody nose”
- Mauritz Botha
GIVEN a fair wind and the minimum of delays en route via Frankfurt, Shanghai and Auckland, Germany should be touching down in Apia about now – Sunday evening Samoan time – as one of the most roller-coaster seasons in recent rugby history continues apace.
Theoretically Germany are just 160 minutes from making the 2019 World Cup Finals, which is a remarkable turn of events for a team which finished a dismal sixth and last in the recent European qualifying tournament. Bear in mind also that the majority of those making the trip to Samoa have recently been told by their club that they no longer have a job.
It’s all been a bit surreal but somehow their World Cup dream has survived and all those involved are determined to make the best of it.
“People may scoff but we are going down to Apia to win, it’s the only way to approach the game, trying to contain the Samoans won’t do us any good,” says Germany’s forwards coach, Mauritz Botha the former England and Saracens lock.
“Samoa haven’t been without their problems recently. They haven’t been in great form for a couple of years now – nine losses on the bounce – and have had their disputes with their Union. They could be vulnerable. I would also guess they have almost no idea what to expect from us with very little data to go on.
“One moment they were expecting to play Romania in June then Spain, then maybe Russia or Belgium and now they are suddenly playing Germany in July. We will be massive underdogs of course and they could also be a little complacent. That’s our hope and we aim to work on that.
“This is a very tight knit group and we saw pretty early on once those eligibility issues came to light with the other nations that there was a sporting chance of us still being involved. We were sort of ready for it.
“The heat will be an issue although it was hot for our week of training for the European play-off against Portugal and the game itself so it’s not like we are coming out of the depth of winter. We are going into this with our eyes open looking to enjoy and relish a great rugby adventure.”
Just a little reminder at this stage at exactly what has been happening in recent months. In fact there are two separate narratives to consider and for the sake of simplicity let’s deal with them in chronological order.
After a promising 2017 season in the Rugby Europe Championship – which doubled as the first half of the RWC qualifying tournament – Germany went into the second year of those competitions theoretically in pretty decent nick, with just an outside chance of earning a chance in the World Cup play-offs. After a famous home win against Romania in 2017 they were certainly hoping to be in the mix although objectively the odds were still long.
Then it all got messy. Dr Hans Peter Wild – the billionaire Swiss businessman who bankrolled the majority of the German players for a number of seasons with his ‘Academy’ and his support of Heidleberg RK – and the German Federation fell into dispute over his future involvement as the latest contract came up for renewal.
The players – some 30 of the Germany squad – not unnaturally sided with their paymaster and ‘boss’ – without him they had no professional career. The dispute dragged on throughout the November Test window before, in a drastic measure, they withdrew their services altogether for this year’s REC Championship and the World Cup qualifying games therein.
The result was predictably catastrophic with Germany conceding 359 points and scoring just 34 in those five games as they slumped to the bottom of the standings. It was in all honesty a bit of a shambles and disgrace as the Germans fielded third choice players in most positions which made a mockery of the already flawed tournament but, crucially as it turned out, they did fulfil the fixtures and therefore avoided being kicked out or disqualified.
And then they looked on, initially with mild interest but then with fevered hope, as first Belgium’s disputed game with Spain threatened to upset the apple cart and then the matter of eligibilities took over. One by one the teams above them were disqualified. Romania, Spain and then Belgium. And when that game of musical chairs finally ended Russia found themselves with a guaranteed spot in Japan and Germany suddenly had a European play-off against Portugal to prepare for PDQ.
There were one or two guffaws around Europe at this news as some of their REC opponents have often wondered about the provenance of the German team as well. However with, dare one say typical German efficiency, it quickly transpired that all the necessary paperwork was in order. Germany could not be faulted on that score, everybody was above board.
The second strand to this remarkable tale runs in tandem and is closely related to all this. As stated the vast majority of Germany’s top players are at Heidelberg RK and, having decided collectively not to play for Germany in the REC competition, their focus shifted to the German league, which they always win, and the European Shield competition. The latter has always been viewed by the club as a way into the European Challenge Cup which would be a huge deal for German rugby
Heidelberg RK made the Shield final where they lost 24-20 to Yenisey-STM Krasnoyarsk but that was still good enough to qualify for next year’s Challenge Cup until ERC decided in their wisdom that as Dr Wild owned Stade Francais, Heidelberg RK would not be allowed to take their place because of an alleged conflict of interest.
They have been barred from the competition and, coincidence or not, last week Wild served notice that he would be withdrawing his support from the club although he would fulfil the contracts of players and coaches up to Christmas.
“One way or another it’s been a roller coaster but still being in the World Cup does provide a shop window for our players, continues Botha who also helps coach Heidelberg. “Every professional at the club is going to be out of a job and myself and others are trying to get them placed in France and England. This is not only the chance of a lifetime to be part of the World Cup, it’s also an opportunity for many of the guys to get noticed and prolong their careers.
“At full strength, which we are now, we are a pretty decent side. As well as that win over Romania there was a victory over Uruguay in 2016 when all the guys were available.
“European Rugby’s decision over Heidelberg caught us all by surprise. If there was any objection to Dr Wild’s involvement with the club why wasn’t that raised earlier this season when we were competing in the Shield? The aim for us was always to win and secure promotion to the Challenge Cup and it seems way too late to now say we can’t compete. The club was always open and transparent about this.
“We still don’t understand the logic. In Ireland there are Ulster, Munster, Connacht and Leinster all owned by
the IRU and their players centrally contracted, paid by the Union. They compete happily against each other in the PRO14 and the European competitions every season and nobody seems to find that an issue. The same applies to the two Scottish clubs. From where we stand it looks no different to the situation with Dr Wild who is the owner of Stade and investor or benefactor at Heidelberg.
“It’s been devastating as you can imagine. A lot of people will lose their jobs and livelihoods. Dr Wild announced the ending of his academy last week with people being paid up to Christmas. I don’t, in all honesty, think it was just being barred from the Challenge Cup but that was definitely the final straw. He has been a huge supporter of German rugby for years but there have been various issues with the German Union as we have seen during the season.
“The effect on the club itself will be huge – it will basically close down the professional side of operations – although hopefully it can regenerate again, it is a very old and ell established club. It’s just hard to take when you look around and see what is allowed in other countries. Does anybody seriously think for a single second that we would collude with Stade in anyway if we ever met? We would be eyeballs out to give them a bloody nose. Does anybody ever think for a minute that the Irish teams collude when they meet?”
In the meantime Botha and the German team have Samoa to think about. It is true Samoan rugby is at a low ebb with just two victories since RWC2015 and, seemingly, a continuing tussle between the players and their cash strapped Union who also stand accused of perhaps not using what financial resources they do possess to best effect.
They are, however, still a big beast at this level of rugby and rather against the odds seem to have got most of their overseas players back for the German double header. They know how vital World Cup qualification is to them as a team and, indeed, a nation and don’t want to prolong the agony any more by having to contest the repechage tournament in France in November.
Two convincing wins over Germany and it would be job done for Samoa and that remains the most likely scenario but in this strangest of years you wonder if there could yet be another twist. And whatever happens Germany will know they still have a place in the repechage to fall back on.