We need passion after national anthem too
Dear Springboks
Rugby skills can be taught and you guys have obviously learnt that aspect of the game. You don’t always get it right, but it is a part of your game that coach Rassie Erasmus can work on the next time you all get together.
After watching last Saturday’s Rugby Championship match against Argentina in Mendoza, I was struck by a painful truth. And, unfortunately, there is not much Rassie can do about it.
Too many of the players in the Bok side lack passion … and that is something that can’t be taught. You all quite obviously have a degree of talent or you wouldn’t have made the side (or so we hope), but that fire in the belly is generally absent.
Like politicians, you guys are dressed for the job. But, like politicians, too many of you are lacking that certain something to get the job done. And I have realised in your case it is spirit.
It is all very well to stand at attention during the national anthem, clutching the badge on the breast of your shirt and singing at the top of your voice with tears squeezing out of tightly-closed eyes. But that gees needs to be
Guy Hawthorne
transferred to the playing field where things really matter.
I watched the Pumas closely during Saturday’s match and, to a man, they were really up for the challenge. They egged one another on when things weren’t going well and there was plenty of chatter and back-slapping among them.
You guys, on the other hand, looked like you believed you were going to be beaten. Bar a few exceptions – and your captain, Siya Kolisi, was one of them – you allowed your heads to drop when things weren’t going for you and as a result your abundance of possession counted for little.
While Kolisi had a fine game, and at least looked as if he was in the zone, his opposite number Agustin Creevy epitomised what it means to be totally focused on the job at hand. His passion was there for all to see and he demanded a similar approach from his team-mates.
I have no doubt that he would have run through a brick wall for Argentina on Saturday and when, late in the game, he was forced to the sidelines to have a nasty gash over his eye patched up, you could sense his desire to get back into the fray as soon as possible.
Too many of you guys go AWOL when the going gets rough. That’s the time you need to stand up and be counted, to prove yourself worthy of pulling on the green and gold jersey.
Australia and New Zealand await in the Rugby Championship and I fear the worst, but I hope you prove me wrong and show that passion that was lacking last week.