New rugby boss gathers support
Springbok heroes say crisis can now be solved
SPRINGBOK 1995 World Cup heroes Chester Williams and Joel Stransky believe new SA Rugby boss Mark Alexander can lead South African rugby out of its current crisis, but it will require some tough decisions to be made on and off the field.
And for true transformation to take place, former Bok centre Gcobani Bobo feels players of colour shouldn’t be made to feel like “visitors” in the South African game.
Following last week’s rugby indaba in Newlands, SA Rugby took another step forward in appointing an elected president yesterday, with businessman Mark Alexander chosen unopposed at a special general council meeting in Joburg.
Long-serving sports administrator Alexander was the deputy president for nearly a decade to Oregan Hoskins, who resigned from the post in August after a tumultuous 12 months.
Alexander is a board member of the SA Olympics committee (Sascoc) and came through the ranks of the famous Raiders Rugby Club in Joburg.
He has been tasked with putting rugby back on track following a difficult period; the Springboks have lost five out of nine Tests this year on coach Allister Coetzee’s watch, a lack of transformation has resulted in hosting rights for major events being suspended by Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula, sponsorships have been difficult to attain, top players have been leaving the country in droves and crowd attendances have dropped.
That paints a bleak picture, and it came to a head when the Boks suffered a record 57-15 loss to the All Blacks in Durban on October 8.
But Alexander is a man with a plan, and spoke yesterday about how he will deal with these issues. Some action has already been taken, such as adding two additional coaches in Franco Smith and JP Ferreira to the Bok management team for next month’s tour to Europe.
Stransky told the Cape Argus yesterday it was necessary to bolster the coaching group, but he hoped the administrative structures would be changed.
“I think the long-term solution is exactly what Mark Alexander alluded to. I think we need to restructure rugby in this country and it needs to be run more professionally. We need to get rid of the old antiquated systems of General Council and all the hidden agendas that come with that type of structure,” the former flyhalf said.
“And then most importantly, we need to find a way to keep our players in the country. We can’t afford to have so many of our players overseas. We probably need to cut down on the number of franchises we’ve got and maybe have four really strong teams who can be competitive week-in and week-out and can win tournaments.”
Ex-wing Williams feels Alexander’s appointment will help kickstart the changes required to make the Boks a force in world rugby again. “We have been in this situation before and I believe we will get out of this situation again,” he said.
Coetzee stated after the indaba South African players also battled with their skill levels, and Bobo believed players needed to be encouraged to showcase their ability with the ball in hand.
Bobo was adamant there were enough good black players coming through the system. “When people ask me what I think about transformation, I ask them ‘Who’s better than the black players chosen?’ Ifwe can make sure those players don’t feel like ‘visitors’ and are real people who are the front-runners and the pioneers of the future, then everyone will be comfortable.”