Springboks will ‘give destiny a go’ as week of mishaps shakes Lions preparations
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber has endured a 19 month wait to take charge of his first Test, which has tried his patience. And, after a difficult week, his resilience is also under pressure.
Rugby coaches love to talk about “controlling the controllables”. And for good reason. It’s a job that would drive anyone to despair if they didn’t let go of setbacks to focus on solving the challenges presented by misfortune instead.
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber is meticulous and supremely thorough. He’s also a realist who understands that the universe can conspire against even the best planning, which is why he is taking a week of massive blows with a shrug and laugh.
Perhaps his most important player, No 8 Duane Vermeulen, suffered ankle ligament damage playing for the Bulls on 4 June and underwent surgery on 9 June. It has left the talismanic loose forward in a race against time to be ready for the first Lions Test, which is on 23 July.
While Nienaber was digesting that news and considering his options, bizarre and potentially devastating news filtered in from Ireland that two World Cup winners had suffered burns in a “fire pit accident”.
South African centre Damian de Allende and lock RG Snyman as well as two Munster teammates sustained burns to their arms, legs and faces after a container of petrol erupted into flame around a fire at a party.
A crackling fire, four rugby players who may or may not have enjoyed a few beverages, and a container of petrol. What could go wrong?
“Destiny is a thing that you can’t control,” Nienaber said philosophically. “The destiny of getting injured, or receiving red and yellow cards, is sometimes out of your control.
“But we are going to give destiny a hell of a go by focusing on discipline, conditioning, strength work, accuracy at the breakdown and on the execution of our fundamentals.
“We can’t control destiny, but we can give it a crack,” the coach said.
Poor judgement
Snyman and De Allende may have displayed poor judgement around a fire, but they are key figures in the Bok set-up.
De Allende, in particular, has been in great form in the PRO14 Rainbow Cup and, barring injury, will start against the Lions. Snyman is still undergoing rehabilitation for a knee injury.
“Yeah, they thought it was a lot worse when we went into hospital on Saturday night, but when we saw the specialist on Sunday, he said it wasn’t as bad as they [were] told,” De Allende told SuperSport.com. “We should be okay in a few weeks, hopefully.”
Nienaber has subsequently spoken to the pair and will wait for the outcome of a visit to a burns specialist in Ireland before deciding on the next step.
Both are important players in the Bok’s plans, but even th0ugh Nienaber described the burns as “superficial”, he admitted that there was still a lot of scope for infection or other setbacks.
“Accidents happen and, as with any accident, it’s not ideal,” Nienaber said. “But it’s not something we can control. I understand from my time in Munster and, knowing what the weather is like, if you want to have a wood fire, then you throw some petrol on and light it that way because the wood is often wet. I did the same.
“That’s the way it is done over there. They explained it to me, and it made sense. The fire just ran up into the canister, then the canister fell and ran up on to them.”
Uncertainty
Munster assistant coach Stephen Larkham has raised doubts that De Allende and Snyman will be fit enough to face the British & Irish Lions.
Ireland internationals CJ Stander and Mike Haley also sustained injuries in the incident.
All four were ruled out of Munster’s PRO14 Rainbow Cup game against Zebre this weekend, but the long-term implications could be worse than feared.
“It’s too early to say [whether they will recover in time to face the Lions] at this stage from my perspective. They’ve seen the specialist and will see the specialist again on Friday,” Larkham told the media.
“We’ll be handing them over to the Springboks at some stage over the next month or so depending on how their rehab is going, particularly for RG where he’s in a rehab programme [for a knee injury] anyway.
“We want to make sure he’s at a sufficient level before we send him over there to the Springboks but, basically, where we’re sitting right now, their next port of call is going to be with the Springboks. We’ll make a decision as to when they get to move onto the Springboks.”
Larkham said the coaches had been informed about the circumstances around the incident, which still remain sketchy.
Nienaber said he had worked in a burns unit during his medical days, “so I understand the pain of the recovery and healing process that they are now facing. So, we wished them well and, luckily, it was largely superficial burns…
“If there is an infection, or if there was any other reason they can’t fly to us, then it would be challenging. But we will just need to be adaptable.”
It’s all they can do, if they want to give destiny a go.