The positive side of SA players returning from overseas
f you’ve spent any time browsing rugby-related headlines recently you’d be forgiven for wondering if there is an interest group pushing for the establishment of an SA rugby old boys’ club in the various provinces after the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
I discussed Morne Steyn’s return to the Bulls a few weeks ago. Ruan Pienaar is returning to SA to play for the Cheetahs. JP Pietersen is already back, and then there’s Josh Strauss, the former Currie Cup-winning Golden Lions captain and onetime Scotland skipper, who is understood to be heading back to play for the Bulls.
As some of those players are now well into their fourth decade it s understandable there has been’some negative reaction. You can’t have too many old players in your team if you expect success.
There has to be a balance, but definitely tilted more to youth than old toppies.
And the old dogs must be quality individuals who can provide leadership and also have a degree of selflessness about them. If Pietersen was returning to unseat Springbok incumbents Lukhanyo Am or Sbu Nkosi from their places in the Sharks first-choice team there’d be a problem, and ditto if Steyn’s aim was to shut out Manie Libbok at the Bulls.
But in neither case is that the aim, so provided the emphasis is on contracting quality individuals who are prepared to play mentorship roles, my view on the mini counter-exodus is overwhelmingly positive.
You need to look at what the players are bringing back with them from overseas. And what role their new employees will be expecting them to play. In all instances, they will be moved into the coaching structures when they hang up their boots.
It’s smart thinking and it helps to counter one of the biggest negative impacts of the so-called exodus of SA players overseas, which is the loss of the experience that can be rubbed off on the new wave of players coming through.
There will always be a steady flow of talented youngsters coming through in this country, but what is lacking is the band of experienced veterans who used to play such a strong hand in helping youngsters develop. And sometimes it is just small things.
In a recent interview for a book I’m writing, Ollie le Roux illustrated the above point by referencing something the late James Small, who tragically left us last week, made a habit of doing in the changeroom when everyone was tense before a match. Apparently Small would often shout out “breathe guys, just breathe
Le Roux says the advice was a big help to him, and he passed
Iit on to younger players in the dressingroom.
One of those younger players was Jannie du Plessis, who in turn is passing it on.
Mention of Du Plessis underlines my point. Because he’s been playing overseas, he hasn’t been passing on his own knowledge and experience to young SA players in the same way as Le Roux did to him. And that’s a problem.
The positive narrative about SA professional players accepted by most of the rugby public doesn’t exist. The enviable life where players make enough during their playing careers to not have to work when it’s over is the reality for very few. For most, the transition period of going from being a professional sportsman to someone who has to eke out a living in a nineto-five environment is a traumatic experience.
Most overseas-based players want to come home after their careers. The smarter ones also know that it would be particularly hard to establish themselves in a business back home if they have isolated themselves overseas for several years.
Coming home and putting themselves back into the minds of South Africans and reestablishing contacts back home is important.
It is also true that the real drive for players who go overseas is not the money but the post-career security it offers. Not everyone can go into coaching like Steyn, Pietersen and Pienaar intend to do, but you could say that in the case of that trio, the unions are addressing a primary player need. They’re offering some kind of post-career security.
There are perhaps creative ways of doing that for other players who can’t be accommodated in the coaching structures, such as getting companies to sponsor players while they are playing and guaranteeing them employment afterwards.
However it is achieved, if the trend of players leaving for overseas at younger ages means that some also return to SA before their careers are over to rub off what they learn in the highly professionalised overseas environment, that is a good thing.
Stefan Terblanche, who did it so well with the Sharks, is a prime example of both the role and the quality of person being referred to.