Experts slam coaching structure
Former Springbok flyhalves Naas Botha and Joel Stransky have slammed the coaching structure in South Africa for the string of pitiful results recently.
Speaking on Boots&All the duo were lamenting, among other results, the hiding handed out to the Baby Boks by England at the IRB U19 World Championship earlier on Thursday.
Eugene Eloff’s charges fell apart to end on the wrong side of a 42-13 result, after the previous hammering by France. The defeat meant they were booted out of the Championship.
“There is a serious problem with the coaching structure in this country and it needs to be addressed urgently or these problems will continue,” said Botha. Stransky added: “If the system is not working, it needs to be changed.”
“Everyone keeps saying we have the talent so then clearly the problem lies in how we are coaching the players,” said Botha. “We need to get someone in charge to change the system.”
The pair bemoaned the lack of a national director of coaching to oversee how things work in SA rugby’s coaching structures. “Saru need to address this problem urgently,” stressed Stransky.
Another weekend of Vodacom Super 14 defeats awaits SA fans and with no end to the misery in sight SA rugby as a whole is losing support on a daily basis. It needs to be address at the highest level urgently, or the current malaise will inevitably filter into the Springbok setup.
April 13th, 2006 at 10:08 pm
Being coached rugby is demanding both mentally and Phusically, it is also humiliating on occasions for youngsters.
When the traditional selection process of rugby players in SA Schools and Varsities was degraded by introduction of forced quota, a proper coaching at grass root level became impossible.
April 13th, 2006 at 10:21 pm
Now will any SA administrators listen??? It’s not as if Botha and Stransky are unqualified to make these comments……
April 13th, 2006 at 10:50 pm
fear of the dragon
April 13th, 2006 at 11:57 pm
What coach will ever be successful if he has to be politically correct all the time – having to worry about stuff other than coaching rugby? A coach in England/France/NZ etc has the luxury of doing what needs to be done to win games. We all know it’s not like that here in SA. Here it is more important that a coach gets the race maths right than winning games. Winning comes second to “racial harmony”. Is any coach on any level in SA in a position to select whoever he believes is best? No. He has to try and balance very complex things to stay out of trouble but still win somehow. It doesn’t help debating the coaching structures etc. On Boots&All no-one will ever be allowed to speak their minds on this – so we will never hear comments like I’m making now from that source. Get politics out of the game first.
Yes there is imbalances of the past to fix. Yes unfortunately there may still be some coaches out there who’s racially biased and will discriminate against players of colour. But forcing quotas down everyone’s throat will not solve the inherited problems from the past. We desperately need SA teams to start performing well in all sports. BafanaBafana is a mess. Our netball has disintegrated. Hockey is slowly going down. Athletics SA is a disaster. Rugby and cricket is trying damn hard to restore some pride. The government should abandon their enforced racism in sport and let the natural survival of the fittest take its course. In time coloured/black sportman and woman will take their rightful places. But it must always remain a system where the best gets selected irrespective colour, creed, etc. SA must start winning. We desperately need to see SA sport teams do well on the sports fields – and not just individuals in pools. Loosing for the sake of political correctness is harming everybody everywhere in this country.
We can debate forever on all kinds of technical stuff but it helps little if non-techincal elements like race politics gets highest priority in sport.
April 14th, 2006 at 12:16 am
I would hardly call Stransky and Botha experts. However, I think the author of the article in the link below is an expert. I think this article accurately explains the problem in South African rugby. Of course, experts and non-experts will probably agree on the more obvious points!
http://www.planet-rugby.com/Tournaments/Super_12/story_50352.shtml
April 14th, 2006 at 12:31 am
TWO WORDS
NICK MALLET
April 14th, 2006 at 4:40 am
Katsesnor
Sorry mate but I am going to have to call BS on that. You cannot have it both ways rugby coaches in SA have clearly shown their reluctance to select non white players. In the lower age groups (u19 and u21) where coaches have been more willing to select non white players some success has been achieved. Could it not be just that SA rugby in general is in a slight slump?
Why go straight for the “reverse race card” when SA coaches have been exposed time and time again with their poor tactical approach to the game. Examples abound in almost every team. Sticking with under preforming players (stormers) sticking with outdated gameplans(bulls) poor tactics(cats) I will excuse the Sharks because they have actually thrown caution to the wind and experimented which will no doubt help them in the future. Rassie at the cheetahs has also broken the mould by at least attempting to change tactics every once in a while.
Continuing to blame problems in SA sports on “political correctness” is quite frankly stupid. Problems like corruption (soccer in general) have nothing to do with race i cannot speak with authority about netball and hockey but even there i am sure the problems what ever they are have little to do with race. For years now people have been complaining about a huge exodous of white players from SA being forced out by quotas. This kind of attitude is disappointing if people are as passionate about their country as you suggest then surely leaving because you may not be able to play rugby is a stupid reason? Maybe we should be showing our young people that there are other ways to help our country besides playing sports.
April 14th, 2006 at 5:22 am
I’ve read the piece that Zhak mentioned – very good indeed.
It’s amazing how many people are blaming quotas for the poor state of SA rugby.
Someone, not too long ago, had the audacity to put this down as the reason as to why the Stormers are playing so dismally. I guess some people will never learn, some will most probably never change, some will most probably never learn to change.
A trademark of Springbok rugby was always its pack of big forwards. The logic behind it was to outmuscle the opposition. The emphasis was therefore more on physique than on skill. It is therefore still common to see how players want to run over their opponents as opposed to running into space. The question needs to be asked if brute force in this era is still the answer? The international season is quite long and strenuous for a player to put his body on the line game after game. By doing so can indeed batter player’s bodies and significantly reduce his rugby-playing career.
Brute force obviously has a place in rugby, but when expressed as an equation it must be more skill than force. In other words the emphasis needs to be more on developing the player skills than just building up muscles in the gym. A balance needs to be maintained.
Furthermore, the question needs to be asked, seeing that players are playing under instructions, did this in any way led to players thinking less on the field? Is an environment created whereby players are encouraged to take the initiative on the field and to possibly deviate from the game plan based on their read of the play? I doubt this.
Last year I mentioned on the forum, that players to a lesser degree are responsible for their own development. They must be willing to work with the coach and technical staff to work on their game deficiencies. Apart from this it’s up to the technical staff to highlight these deficiencies and to come up with a plan to address it and eradicate it. What is alarming is that the writer (in the piece I’ve mentioned) makes a bold statement that he has seen players with the same weaknesses that they had a couple of years ago. The question then needs to be asked how serious players are to uplift their skills and what measures the coaches will put in place to ensure that effective skills development is the order of the day.
It’s not nice to see our players losing the ball in tackle situations and to knock on the ball repeatably. This really is a concern for SA Rugby. I can’t see how this can persist. The reason being that training sessions is there not to practise new moves only but also to iron out any grey areas. Practise make perfect after all. What is it to extend the training session in order to focus more on these grey areas? I just feel that something drastic needs to be done about it. It’s not nice to drop your head every time.
Finally, I’m fed up with remarks such as that the team looks good on paper, only for that team to play dismally. If only for once, teams can play according to their ability and make SA rugby proud.
This concludes my two cents in this matter.
April 14th, 2006 at 7:44 am
Kapie – Much of what you say makes sense. I believe S A rugby is still in a time warp and players are coached from school upwards to “subdue andd penetrate” which was Danie Craven’s coaching theme. Sure it worked for many years but these days most international sides have forwards of more or less equal strength. Here in New Zealand school rugby is a running game. Every New Zealand side from Under 9 upwards run the ball. I believe N Z could produce three fifteens capable of beating every other international team. The word here is “skill”. It is sad that only a handful of rugby players in S A qualify in that category.
April 14th, 2006 at 7:46 am
Zhak jy praat kak.
Naas het meer kennis in sy pinkie oor rugby as enige iemand anders in totaal.
Chester Williams were elevated to coaching Super 12 last year from coaching 7’s. That makes no sense.
That is what they are talking about.
Start at the bootom work your way up.
Then again, we have Rassie Erasmus who obviously is better than the rest, of equivalent age anyway.
This is now the same Nick Mallet who appointed Fester to coach the Stormers? Catch a wake-up.
The Cats cannot blame quota’s, neither can the Stormers, they both suck. This guy on SuperRugby from the Cats were trying to explain how little experience the team has etc.
The Super 14 is stacked against us, it will always be unfair to us and we will always look bad in it.
If we could have consistantly had a team in the top 3 it would have been different, but we can not even manage that. If this was the case having a few teams at the bottom would have been ok, but we just suck, it is no fun to lose!
April 14th, 2006 at 7:55 am
Quota Quota
April 14th, 2006 at 8:15 am
As Naas stated correctly our Craven week is not up to scratch anymore.
The problem is definately within the school’s coaching systems.
In the past basic skills were practised over and over until it became second nature.
Today’s kids who dont have to do PT in schools anymore are, firstly; not fit enough, secondly, they dont have the basic skills enforced and thirdly, something that I have noticed, is a bad attitude amongst high school boys towards their coaching staff when they get reprimanded.
Let’s bring back PT and corporal correction.
Let’s get rid of quota systems.
Hopefully our boys will grow up to be MEN!!!
April 14th, 2006 at 8:19 am
Hang on this quota story is really getting a bit long in the tooth.I think dem coaches are to be closer looked at.
April 14th, 2006 at 9:26 am
I just thought that Dick Muir summed up the whole situation very well when he said that from what he has seen so far SA players skill levels are not on the same level as Aus and NZ. He also said that SA sides are playing far too conservatively. He said that the Sharks got Campo in to address the problem of poor individual skill levels.
April 14th, 2006 at 9:29 am
stuff this quota kak, it is simply a case of the game being run and coached by amateurs.
we have very few professionals involved in our game.
they are out there, but they are not getting themselves involved either through the system not wanting them involved, or they simply have no interest in being involved with anything within SARU.
start at the bottom? kak, start at the top, rid our game of incompetent fools currently running our rugby.
April 14th, 2006 at 9:49 am
The state of South African rugby (and sport in general) is just a sad mirror reflection of the state of the country in general. Like in the rest of Africa there certainly is heaps of natural talent who are both willing and able.
But like in the rest of Africa one consistently finds a dysfunctional provincial and national service delivery, lack of work ethic, lack of social responsibility, lack of corporate governance, lack of civic pride, lack of self discipline, lack of long term planning, etc, etc
April 14th, 2006 at 9:53 am
kapie twojays robbinoz I couldnt agree with you guys more.
The two excuses I hate the most in South African Rugby are quotas and inexperience. Why is it that the “quota and inexperienced” players play as well as anybody in world rugby under Jake White? When Ricky Januarie came into the Bok set up, both those labels applied to him, there were many who thought quota (and I am ashamed to admit I was one of them) and he had almost zero experience. Well it took just one game for him to prove me wrong, what a fantastic player he is under Jake White in my opinion undoutedly better than Fourie, why is he any less of a player when playing for the Cats?
At various times this season I have heard
1 the Cats
2 the Sharks
3 the Stormers
4 the Cheetahs
say that they are a young inexperienced team, what is going on? did I miss 120 South African rugby players retire last year? Pathetic excuse.
Bloubul, please tell me how the travel and the fact that the super 14 is stacked against us helped the Bulls lose to the Brumbies and the Canes and the stormers 4 of their home games BEFORE THEY HAD TRAVELLED OVERSEAS??? How often do you see the Australasian semi finalist contenders lose their home games?
Why is it that when a South African goes overseas to finish his playing career he ends up a better player, Jake Boer, Percy, Andre Snyman, all considered over the hill turn out to be sublime performers when they are coached by good knowledgable coaches. Just how good would Habana be if he had moved to the Brumbies ala Rathbone we will (thankfully for us) never know, but I bet you any amount he would have scored more than 4 tries in 8 games.
It is time for us as proud South African supporters to take our heads out of our arses and stop looking for non existent excuses. Our skill levels are not good enough, it is a coaching problem and needs to be addressed.
April 14th, 2006 at 10:09 am
Dalrimps1, you ask a very relevant and pertinent question. “Why is it that when a South African goes overseas to finish his playing career he ends up a better player, …†For exactly the same reason that African footballers look so much better when playing in the European football leagues.
Simply put, superior structures and systems combined with an environment where self discipline, work ethic and continuos self improvement are paramount to success.
April 14th, 2006 at 10:44 am
I think a lot of the problems start at school boy level. I am currently in u16 and i have experienced some of the most dreadful rugby games. The standard of refereeing is pathethic. My coach last year told me when you play away ur already 10 to 15 points down before the game starts. Coaches are obsessed with results. Sometimes we play to not make mistakes, rather than to score. As a wing last year I touched the ball once in space in 15 games. Isn’t this a reflection of the types of rugby played at school boy level? Tire out the opposition through phase after phase, then spread it wide. The problem is that the more phases you have its bound to happen that someone throws a shit pass or knocks on. Why can’t we score off first phase in Super 14 like the national team can do and like England u19 did against us, and as countless s14 oz and nz teams do? To me it seem that sa teams (school boy and s14) think a one man overlap is not enough, it has to be 5 on 2 before they spread the ball. I dream of receiving the ball on the overlap, sprinting down the touchline with only maybe the fullback to beat. Everyone in SA thinks the way to be a good player is to drink your protein shakes and gym so you can weigh heavier than your opponents. The thing is Matt Giteau will still be able to take Dries Scholtz going full pace even though the guy is 30kg’s heavier. Yet Matt Giteau will step and skill Dries Scholtz’s to pieces. We need to start developing skills at school boy level fast.
April 14th, 2006 at 10:48 am
If to top it all the Boks have a bad 3N then what? Well probably nothing after all SA rugby fans willingly accept year on year disgrace.
April 14th, 2006 at 11:06 am
Our attitude in SA is that we always know better and that we live in the best country in the world. It’s only when you travel a bit, do you realise that it’s not in fact entirely so. We seem to go about with our heads in the clouds. A position of power is often viewed as an ego-filled role and regarded as VIP status in SA. To be frank, very few of our coaches and senior administrators in sport would be able to fulfil that same role in many of the other major sporting countries, because they would be regarded as simply not good enough. My point being, at the very least with our coaching structures, we shouldn’t be reluctant to bring in good overseas coaches even if it does mean breaking the bank for that person.
April 14th, 2006 at 11:26 am
Robboinoz, Kapie,
I’m not saying that quotas is the only reason. Skill, fitness, discipline, IQ, EQ, etc. are all crucial – but that is what I mean by “technical”. Obviously the proper structures must be in place to look after the “technical” stuff. But it is not stupid to put much of the blame on quotas and political interference. To have all the technical stuff required to be quality player ready for top class rugby requires much dedication and hard work. You will give what it takes as long as you know that your effort will be rewarded – on merit. But when you reach your goal and then be sidelined because of the colour of your skin – or just run the risk of being discriminated against – you loose heart, motivation and – PASSION. Some of you should know that feeling. Many young white schoolboys playing rugby feel like this. They just don’t know how much they should put into the sport fearing the coulor chop more than hard work. They then opt for individual sports where things like quotas have less of an impact. Those that remain in rugby and want to make rugby a carreer start focussing on an overseas carreer early on and leave the country as soon as possible. SA is an open wound at present – bleeding fantastic talent to other nations. Ask those youngsters why they leave and race quotas will be top of the list. They all love SA but cannot afford to be political toys when it comes to a carreer and income. There are younsters with all the skill we so desperately seek – but they are leaving our shores – not having had the chance to play Craven Week or Provincial Juniors. One will not see the skills of the past at Craven Weeks because many of the better players are not there anymore. Some on this site will say I’m talking BS – that politicas are not to blame for the poor state of SA rugby – and sport in general. And that dishonest naivity is exactly why things will never come right. We must face the demons or they will have us for breakfast.
April 14th, 2006 at 11:52 am
From the article Zhak recommended …
“Over the next fortnight SA franchises might find themselves in a somewhat frustrating situation. Internally they will have recognized growth and improvements but externally they might have to cope with and adhere to increasing external influences and pressures.”
… exactly.
April 14th, 2006 at 11:59 am
Katsesnor:
To all these sidelined white blokes you know, I suggest you point out only two facts:
Jorrie Muller and Gus Theron.
Fact is, if white guys with talent were being sidelined due to quotas, then these guys would be playing in the Stellenbosch seventh team.
Give me a break.
As for the skills, how about those of our past world champion baby boks – the first really representative team we have produced.
Let’s focus where it counts.
1. When I played club rugby, Nick Mallet was coaching False Bay. Springboks still turned out for their club first teams. If you want to lift the standard at the top level then let’s get club rugby back on track.
2. Less is more. The Super 14 is too big. The best rugby was played during the Super 10. We’re probably stuck with it now, but certainly, lets get our bloated provincial set up right. How many world-class provincial teams can we support? My guess is 5. Bring in relegation with automatic draft selection for the promoted team. Raise the stakes rather than protect the empires of the fat cat pronvincial administrators. Remember the hunger when Natal got promoted from the B-section?
3. Put an academy in place to train future stars. Probably situated at the newly promoted province. It cannot be good for players like Jongi Nokwe to be largely sidelined for over two years. Confidence breeds results. Imagine the results of a promoted team leveraging players like Chilli-boy Ramaphele, Nokwe, etc.
April 14th, 2006 at 12:10 pm
If all younsters playing rugby had access to the same quality coaching and facilities players of similar abilities should result amongst all colours. It is not the case at present – and this is where drastic action should be taken first. With quotas at schools level the government is forcing junior provincial and the national teams to accommodate players coming from schools with poor facilities and poor coaching – thus placing an unfair burden on the likes of Eloff to get everone on the same level and at full potential in a week or two. Cannot work. Get the basics right first. Put some serious money and effort into improving facilities and coaching at black/coloured schools first. Then the numbers will come through and quotas will not be needed. Using quotas is like placing a bandage over a broken leg.
And two wrongs does not make a right. If the bad guys of the past discriminated on colour then we should now show we are made of better stuff.
April 14th, 2006 at 12:13 pm
If only our backs had your side-step Katsesnor.
Two facts: Jorrie Muller and Gus Theron.
April 14th, 2006 at 12:20 pm
Storm_saam,
Playing 7th team for Stellenbosch is not a rugby career. Anyone playing there does it as a hobby and for loving the game. A person who wants to make rugby his career but ends up in Stellenboch’s 7th team should seriously consider a career move.
Gus is actually a good example. Rugby is not his career – he is into transport economics/engineering.
Jorrie is a weird case. He is a much better player with huge potential but for reasons unknown he just could not get things right yet. I would not write him off just yet.
April 14th, 2006 at 12:27 pm
Storm_saam,
I’m against discrimination. I hate politics (and loath politicians) interfering in sport. Sport at provincial and national level should always be about the best competing against the best – no matter the race etc. There are other structures in society that can be used for improving racial harmony etc. I want to see my teams winning. I hate loosing. And if politics is a cause of my teams loosing I want it out.
As a Cats supporter I will not mind my team being 100% black – as long as they win.
April 14th, 2006 at 12:31 pm
Well Mnr Snor, if I were an up-and-coming white in the Stellies 7ths, and rugby was a potential career, I would take your comment as all the encouragement needed.
I would imagine my chances of success as very good if things were decided on talent, I had it, and I was coming up against Gus – playing because, hang on, why is he playing?
And I would think that if Jorrie could have as many chances as he has had, and still be gifted a place, then decisions must be made on some very broad criteria which could favour me…
Your comment regarding the love of the game is strange. Love of the game is required at all levels – not just the Stellies 7th. If you play rugby as a career and don’t enjoy it, those Monday morning bruises are going to be helluva painful. Perhaps that is an insight in itself – how many of our Super 14 players enjoy each Saturday?
April 14th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
Strangely, politicians could be SA rugby’s saviour.
Let’s say for a moment that a smaller, focused proncial setup is the right way to go.
How many of those presidents from Griquas, SWD, etc sitting on the rugby board are going to vote themselves out of the competition? This was a monster of Louis Luyt and Brian van Rooyen’s creation.
If you ask me which politician I might favour to do the right thing, a government one vs. one of those rugby politicios, I’d pick the government one.
April 14th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
Start with rugby at school level. To hell with all politics and choose the best team and the best combinations.Our coatches need coatching as well cause their desision making at times are sucks.The outside world are laughing at our quota system.
April 14th, 2006 at 12:59 pm
Storm_saam,
where did I say loving the game only applies to Stellies 7th? Surely it’s obvious that all levels should love the game. But with all the politics many do not enjoy it anymore.
You talk about Jorrie getting many chances. What about Willemse just walking into a team he hasn’t play’d for for almost two years? What about Willemse just walking into the Bok side – not having play’d for a whole season? What about Quinton Davids – the ultimate quota – playing week after week for many seasons.
And no, I will not trust a politician to negotiate anything in sport. They usually care more about the benefits they themselves will gain fro the exercise – much like the provincial presidents you mentioned. It will take a very rare kind of politician to make things work – like Louis Luyt maybe?
April 14th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
Well i for one (Having just lost my job to a BEE aplicant) can see how a Quota system can mess with your confidence and pretty much everything else. My entire outlook towards SA has just rapidly changed, I am now emmigrating for the second time lol out of this place.
And thats just my work enviroment.
Imagine how it feels to be a youngster with hopes and dreams and then A being put into an under 19 side because of being black, and B not being put into the side because your white. This country is far to obsessed with the colour thing and unfortunetaly it will be to the detriment of our Sproting culture and pretty much everything else.
So its back to Pommey land for me (sigh) the only good thing is ill try track STM down ha ha
April 14th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
wls,
I’ve been down that road too. Know the feeling very well. But don’t let it get you down. Do what you have to do – and if you are fortunate enough to be able to get good work abroad take it and make the best of it. I just don’t know if/when things will settle down here to make it worth comming back for you. Hell man it’s sad to loose people.
The world is changing as a whole making it essential for youngsters to be as flexible and mobile as possible anyway. The old securities are dissapearing everywhere fast. If not because of local affirmative action then it will be because of a highly skilled Indian or Chinese worker willing to work for half the pay. The sooner we adapt to the new world realities the better. Saffas are survivers and will always adapt and thrive – anywhere in the world.
April 14th, 2006 at 3:26 pm
Time for radical change
http://sarugbyview.blogspot.com/
It is time for radical change. South African rugby is in danger of losing appeal. No one likes watching a losing team. And if results speak for themselves, then we have to be brutally honest and say that is what our teams have become – losers.
It may be unkind to refer to our Boks this way, given their global ranking and their Tri-Nations results, but. Let’s keep this to the facts – they lost games they should have won last year, and it takes a brave man to bet on consistent winning performances against all comers.
But the Super Rugby is where our house of cards is creaking. Administrators have ignored results for years, protecting their interests on the back of loyal paying support and TV revenues. As angry supporters turn their backs on struggling teams, and advertisers ponder the wisdom of spending their millions of sponsorship rands, one of two outcomes is likely – rugby becomes / remains a minority sport or a radical change is sparked.
Before we consider how such a change might be sparked, let’s diagnose the problem. There is a lot of diagnosing going on.
Dan Retief believes our club rugby needs an overhaul.
Joel Stransky and Naas Botha believe our coaching needs a new structure.
Nico le Roux, a South African ex-pat who has been living in New Zealand for the past five years where he has been involved as a skills coach and technical advisor to Waikato and North Harbour (NPC), the Chiefs (Super 12), the Junior All Blacks and All Blacks, believes that our players skills and reading of the game are below par, and our gameplans have been slow to evolve.
Kandas believes that our competition structure needs to change.
PissAnt believes that the answer lies in commercialising the unions and better player pay management.
Rasputin believes our players need to be stronger and better conditioned.
Gavin Rich believes our players need to think a little harder and Dan Retief wondered if our players had the brains to do that.
And there are a vitriolic bunch of forum commentators such as Tackler that scream quotas in their bitter voices.
Our rugby has many other issues, such as violence and poor facilities, but if we have only limited resources and need to pull some big levers to change things, which ones should we choose?
Competition structure
I believe we’re stuck with the bloated Super 14. I think the way of dealing with this might be indirect. Let’s limit the Currie Cup A-section to 6 teams playing one another on a round robin basis, with a final and semi-finals, bringing in the Spears. The top 5 teams go through to the Super 14 the following year. This would ensure that there are no protracted arguments about promotion relegation as the promoted team and relegated team would have played one another during the round-robin.
The B-section is a bit of a headache and is where the scope for radical action lies. Can we afford a B-section provincial set-up and to strengthen our club rugby? I doubt it. Of course, not having a B-team for the A-section teams makes succession planning and talent spotting difficult.
Perhaps the way to go is to have the provincial B teams playing in a localised club competition during the Super 14. This allows the exposure of clubs to senior level rugby and should see the provincial B team emerge as the winner. But the kicker is that the winner goes into a national championships taking place during the Currie Cup and held as curtain raisers to the big 6. This does offer a carrot to clubs to perform.
Perhaps the top two B-teams / clubs could represent us in a global competition.
I am not sure we can afford a major intercontinental club championships. I also think our clubs need to bridge a divide between age-group rugby and provincial rugby – not themselves be elevated to super status.
I think the solution to this one is complex, but I do believe it involves holding our Super 14 teams accountable for performance (through relegation), making our Currie Cup more focused and raising the visibility of our clubs.
Restructure the pay pool
Again difficult to do, because unions will argue that how they structure their pay pool is up to them. SA Rugby might argue that they deserve a say due to the allocations they dole out.
I think the essence of a solution is to treat the pay pool on a portfolio basis. A portion should be allocated to contracted Springboks, a portion to contracted provincial players, a portion for promising players, and a portion for performance.
That last portion is the big deal. Making it meaningful means impacting the other portions. There are only two ways of doing this – reduce the number of contracted players or reduce the amount you pay them. I would argue for the former. We have to make contracts lucrative to keep our players in South Africa. Now imagine if a player can become wealthy through being contracted and competition winnings. More to play for for everyone.
I understand SA Rugby operates on a similar basis to this at the moment, but I doubt the performance based portion is big enough. And, vice versa, I think too many players are too secure in their contracts.
A sidenote to this is that I think a portion of the Springbok budget must include money to buy Springboks out of Super 14 and provincial games. This together with the right to do so, would give our coach more say about the amount of rugby our players play.
Situate a national academy at the promoted Super 14 province
This should be for the entire year (Super 14 and Currie Cup) and players in the national academy should be available to the promoted team in both competitions.
Other unions should be required to name a squad of a certain size for their season and players outside of this should be eligible to train with the academy (I believe our Super 12 teams operate like this – hence the use of Grant Esterhuisen and Willem Stolz by the Stormers).
Should a more sophisticated draft system be used, I believe it might target 1 top player from each province. Targeting development players will not work – it removes the incentive for a province to invest in development – a complaint we are already hearing.
Jake White should direct the academy (perhaps not being available full time).
Coaching
Jake White does not want a director of rugby for South Africa. Given his success, he has perhaps earned the right to call some shots.
Clearly though, SA skills and perhaps coaching are not up to scratch. Perhaps something can be done to make provincial coaches accountable to White for players skill levels and fitness. The most practical way to doe this is to give White a say on their pay review meetings. If coaches were aware that White had a say in their bonus, they might be more cooperative.
This cannot be one way traffic. White must be required to give coaches monthly feedback and scoring during the year.
Governance
The most difficult yet crucial issue of all.
What we have does not work. It is biased to the interests of the majority by number and mitigates against the success of the best outcomes.
I believe a modified corporate board structure might work. Rather than partisan regional representatives, perhaps members can be elected representing constituencies. Those that spring to mind are: the players, the sponsors, the coaches and the referees. It is difficult to see how fans / supporters can elect a representative, but perhaps someone, somewhere is aware of somewhere, perhaps in soccer, that this is done. But sponsors should have supporter’s interests in mind.
What is clear is that our regional representation does not work and results in sub-optimal decisions.
Conclusion
There are many issues in SA Rugby. Radicalism must be managed with caution. But this may be the last season the watching fans and sponsors maintain their support.
The chance of radical change is limited given South Africa’s rugby governance system. The chances of a criminal voting for the death penalty are slight.
Will SA Rugby see the potential of an implosion made of deserting fans and sponsors? I am sure it is coming.
April 14th, 2006 at 3:42 pm
Kantsnoer its just put such a bitter taste in my mouth, I left SA in 97 and did the travelling/working thing and i always knew id end up back in Sunny SA, i have been back here since December 2004 and im afraid i just cant do it anymore. I have weighed up my options and after a long think session with Wife we have decided the Uk is best for us. I cant sit here and be part of an enviroment where ill always play second fiddle and never have any form of secrity.
I really do see why the PLayers are walking away from this place. Its all going TITS up in my opinion.
April 14th, 2006 at 4:18 pm
All the coaching in the world wouldn’t have saved the All Blacks while playing the Springboks at home, NZ, in 2004/5, it was just some help from the referees that saved them 3 minutes from time!
So traditional brute force and physical game did help the Boks to dominate, admitedly, with a lower skill level.
I can’t recall Stormers/WP wings dropping so many balls over the last 20 years as I have watched last two seasons, looking further on who are dropping these balls it turned out majority are quota players.
So what coaching has to do with it?, those players were forced on them.
April 14th, 2006 at 5:10 pm
So onlooker your saying it is the coaches or it isint? I think it has to be the coaches and the Affirmitive scenario that faces everyone.
I mean under JW these players perform.
April 14th, 2006 at 6:39 pm
Appointing a Director of Coaching would not solve the problem. It would just add one more fat cat who must justify his position with more talk shops.
Team selection a.k.a. quotas at u/19 level is a huge problem. The sides are picked around the better quota players and in the process a lot of talented players lose interest. This is unfortunately the age at which a young player must decide whether the wants to continue his playing career. The performance of Loffie’s losers proves this point.
We can stay in denial and tell each other sweet little rugby lies but the facts speak for themselves. Ask the Lions supporters which players in their Craven week team were the stars of the future and then look for their names on Loffie’s team list.
As far as our coaching problems are concerned I think more should be done to channel top players into a coaching career. Having said that, it must be added that all top player haven’t got the mental abilities to become good coaches. Other very talented coaches haven’t played the game at top level (Heyneke Meyer) yet they understand the basic principles.
April 14th, 2006 at 7:56 pm
The fact is that we have never optimised teh structures that we have to identify and nurture the best from our very large talent base.
I had a recent opportunity to speak to a prominent NZ and AB forwrds coach. His exact words? “God help us if the Japies ever learnt how to scrum properly”. He then pointed out a few things that SA forwards do – and being an engineer, I have to admit that what he says is true and makes a lot of sense in terms of physics. And I have seen the same mistaks in every game since.
Also we get “psychologists” in to give pep talks to our teams, but not to use the science of the mind to TRAIN them. The use of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) to train the players subconscious to react faster and in the correct manner.
We have not even begun to scratch the surface of scientific mental training (not just conditioning and sprint training) – and I wonder just how far along the other teams have gone without us knowing about it?
April 14th, 2006 at 8:30 pm
wls,
I refered to the article by ex-patriate in NZ who whacked the current SA coaching and skill level, the Springboks showed last 2 seasons against the ABs that these deficiencies can be nullified if gameplan devised to the Boks strenths!
I also pointed out at the obvious drop in skills since I firmly believe that quota players are not coachable.
April 14th, 2006 at 8:58 pm
I definitely concur with the article and am very very disappointed with our boys performance in the U19s. I think the selection was appalling at times especially in the pack of forwards, I fail to see how there can be a 125kg loosehead prop, an 82kg hooker and an 108kg tighthead its just ridiculous. Secondly the flanker Johan Van Deventer a really good tenacious player but is just far to small abt 1.78 m and 82 kg is not big enough to play at pro – level! Im not saying size is everything but we need to make sure that how players are bulky enough to win ball for our backs!
April 14th, 2006 at 9:57 pm
www,
You could not have said it better. NLP is mentioned a fair bit by Anthony Robbins in his book ‘Unlimited Power’.The main people to have done research on this and written about it, are John Grinder and Richard Bandler in their book ‘Trans-formations: Neurolinguistic programming and the structure of hypnosis’.
I would only imagine that our coaches/administrators are too arrogant and up themselves to think that this is important in modern-day lifestyles. We are generally laughed at overseas and even the odd win here or there, is relied upon to be followed up by a big screw-up by someone…someone to make themselves heard and feel important again.
April 14th, 2006 at 11:50 pm
And still the racists come out the woodwork….
“I firmly believe that quota players are not coachable” Onlooker post 41.
To lay the blame at the foot of black players and not see the whole problem is so shortsighted.
Take a look at the S14, our best flyhalf is not even a South African, but a Kiwi. Skills and decision making are sadly lacking, I suspect to a degree that they have been coached out of a lot of talented players. An obsesion with size as oposed to skill is another problem area.
Fafa Knoetze, one of the best centre’s I have ever seen would have been rated as too small today. Perhaps some overseas coaching is what is needed, Campo is making a difference with the Sharks, how about the Stormers ore the Bulls getting hold of Rod Kafer.
April 14th, 2006 at 11:50 pm
One thing that i am exceedingly excited about is our U21 team this year have a look at this potential outfit wat a mouthwatering prospect
15 JP Pieterson (Sharks – Super 14)
14 Cedric Mkhize (Sharks – Super 14 last yr/Wildebeest)
13 Waylon Murray (Sharks – Super 14)
12 Brad Barrit (Sharks – Super14)
11 Marius Delport (Blue Buls – Vodacom Cup)
10 Meyer Bosman (Cheetahs – Super 14)
9 Jano Vermaak (Cats – Super 14)
8 Pieter Louw (WP Vodacom Cup)
7 Hilton Lobberts (Blue Bulls Vodacom Cup)
6 Pierre Spies ( Blue Bulls – Super 14)
5 Alister Hargreaves (Natal Wildebeest)
4 Nicolai Blignaudt (Natal Wildebeest)
3 Werner Kruger (Blue Bulls Vodacom Cup)
2 Chiliboy Ralepele (Bulls – SUper 14/Vdcm Cup)
1 Henkie vd Merwer (Sharks – Super 14)
16 Adriaan Strauss (Blue Bulls – SUper 14)
17 Sangoni Mxoli (Natal Wildebeest)
18 Wilhelm Steeenkamp (Blue Bulls – Vodacom Cup)
19 Keegan Daniel (Sharks – SUper14)
20 Danie vd Merwe (Blue Bulls – Vodacom Cup)
21 Alwyn Hollenbach (Cheetahs – Super 14)
22 Jody Rose (Lions – Vodacom CUp)
April 15th, 2006 at 12:25 am
Gretep,
I guess it’s a misperception on your side, I said ‘QUOTA players’ no reference to race whatsoever
Once a player is inserted into the line-up of a professional team as a forced selection, he is there regardless of his skills, physical attributes and stamina, you cannot coach such a guy since he is there regardless. Could you coach Quentin Davids or Eddie Andrews?
Fafa Knutze would have held his ground today, rest assured, he was bigger than Hougaard and ten times more skilful, he was bigger than Paulse too.
Chester was a small frame player but his value never been questioned.
April 15th, 2006 at 6:32 am
“I guess some people will never learn, some will most probably never change, some will most probably never learn to change”
Let me add:
And some will justify their view/s to the extreme, and still can’t see how biased and racist it is.
The former is still acceptable but the latter not.
No sense in reasoning with such a person.
April 15th, 2006 at 10:01 am
The results speak for themselves. No need to argue the obvious. Enough said.