Taute at crossroads
A PANGof nostalgia must have gripped Jaco Taute as he watched 21-year-old Jesse Kriel burst onto the Springbok scene in July. Taute was the same age in 2012 when he rode a similar groundswell of public support to make three appearances for South Africa at outside centre. Today, he is fighting for his survival as a professional rugby player.
“I think he’s desperate,” said Western Province coach John Dobson. “Jaco knows he’s at a crossroads.”
Shortlisted for SA Rugby’s young player of the year award in 2011, Taute’s star has since plummeted so dramatically that Dobson had no plans to start him in the Currie Cup.
A bright display in the 2014 domestic competition was a lighthouse during three seasons that have otherwise been storm-beaten by a pair of serious knee injuries and poor Super Rugby form.
Things went south for Taute shortly after he left the Lions for the Stormers on a loan deal in 2013. In his fourth appearance for the Cape side, a seemingly innocuous tackle from Cheetahs winger Willie le Roux caused Taute’s right knee to hyper-extend laterally. Replays showed a sickening dislocation of the joint; ruptured ligaments would keep him out of rugby for almost 11 months.
The Monument High old boy, who represented South Africa at the 2010 and 2011 Junior World Championships, was one of several young guns who came out firing for the Lions under coach John Mitchell in 2011.
That was the year that the Joburg team broke a 12-year Currie Cup title-drought, winning their first such finale at Ellis Park since 1950. It was a big deal for long-suffering Lions supporters, but Taute’s hold on the Lions No 15 jersey slipped early in the 2012 Super Rugby season, and he started at centre in eight of nine more appearances during that campaign.
He was then drafted into the Bok set-up and made his Test debut in a 31-8 romp over Australia at Loftus Versfeld. One week later, his failure to find touch with a clearing kick ignited an All Blacks comeback in Joburg as South Africa surrendered an early lead to remain scoreless in the second half of a 32-16 defeat.
It looked like all might have been forgiven when Taute was selected to start in the Boks’ year-end tour-opening win against Ireland in Dublin, but Heyneke Meyer has not called his number since.
The Lions lost their Super Rugby status in 2013, and the Stormers believed that they had secured the services of a quality fullback when they got Taute on loan. His season ended at the Free State Stadium in April, and the Cape side missed the playoffs for the first time in four years.
In truth, Taute had looked out of his depth at fullback before being cut down in 2013 and, when he returned to the playing field almost one year later, after making his move to Cape Town a permanent one, it was obvious that he had lost speed and confidence in equal measure.
Nonetheless, the Stormers persisted with his selection at fullback, and ended the 2014 season with a 7-9 record.
Fate stepped in during the Currie Cup to end a failed project and breathed life back into Taute’s career. Michael van der Spuy pulled up with a ham- string strain and Taute was deployed at inside centre in a midfield combination with captain Juan de Jongh.
It proved to be a masterstroke, as the two internationals complemented each other perfectly to help drive Province to their second title in three seasons.
Unfortunately, that promising step forward was followed by two steps back when a second long-term knee injury consigned Taute to another arduous rehabilitation program for all but three matches in the Stormers’ 2015 campaign.
From the sidelines, Dobson didn’t see anything he liked, but that all changed when Taute’s intangibles became clear in training.
“I thought that Jaco showed Former Lions coach JOHN MITCHELL says: “Jaco is an outstanding person, he works hard, is intelligent and he’s quite a big back, which is an asset to every team. He likes to be around the ball, and while I think that centre is probably a challenge for him in terms of his catch-pass (ability) and front-on tackle technique, inside centre suits his skill-set more than No 13. “He can also become quite a good option in the kicking game you don’t need to only use him as a ball-carrier, he can be a strategic threat. “Jaco is also infectious to a group. Even when he’s down, he masters it pretty well, and he’s great to have in the team. “What I worry about for him is that he’s in his third position now, so he needs to settle.” a lot of character to work his way back from both seismic injuries,” said Dobson. “But what I didn’t fully appreciate before working with him is that he’s an incredible team man.
“He organises the socials and the fines, and at every tech- nical chat, he’s having input. (Stormers attack coach) Robbie Fleck told me before the competition that I’ll never want to leave Jaco Taute out, and now I can see what he was saying.
“By Jaco’s own admission, his speed is not what it should be ... but in terms of defensive organisation, work on the ground and being a team man, he’s brilliant.” De Jongh concurs. “I think Jaco and I were brilliant as a centre combination in the Currie Cup last year, and we’re going to keep working on that,” said the WP captain. “Jaco is the complete package and I love playing with him; we both think the same way about creating and defending, and we’re good mates off the field.”