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World Cup
Resources
Posted by Desmond - 31 July 2007 |
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The challenge of being the man in the head coaching job for South
Africa just got a lot harder for Jake White. Against the background
of continued threats to abandon the Springbok emblem and several
players announcing their intentions to go overseas; White and his
fellow selectors chose to leave the so-called top 20 players at home
for the overseas leg of his Tri Nations campaign. The Australian
media jumped to unnecessary conclusions and dubbed it as detrimental
to the regional competition and proved to be ill informed as well as
naïve regarding the depth of South African rugby and the significant
challenges that the national coach faces.
I have been surprised by some of the selections and forced to bite
my tongue as far as the so-called development of disadvantaged
players is concerned; time and again it has been shown that national
colours are not the place for transformation, the school fields of
South Africa represent a far more realistic environment and the
several games of Craven week that I have watched have vindicated
this view. Whilst there has been insufficient development at the
Super 14 and Currie Cup levels there has been a fantastic amount of
work done at schoolboy level and beyond that at the level of grass
roots rugby by organisations such as rugby legends which is on the
surface far more pro-active in developing the game than the
bureaucrats at SA Rugby. Imagine the outcry if the national football
team was placed under the same kind of scrutiny as the Springboks or
Proteas as the various sport portfolio committee members of the ANC
would have them named. It just would not happen and that is the real
tragedy here.
On the playing field several of the selections for the home tests
against England and Samoa vindicated themselves, others fell flat
and none more so than the forced inclusion of Luke Watson, sadly
though he was stuffed from the beginning and the pressure put on him
was always going to be far greater than most individuals could cope
with. Others have had several opportunities and prospered at a later
stage, one thinks here of Wikus van Heerden who was outstanding
against Australia after failing to perform miracles earlier on in
his national career. Luke Watson it must be said runs hot and cold
whereas van Heerden is consistent and when he has a blinder it is
far more spectacular to the average viewer and they are quick to
hail him as superior to Watson. The comparison made all the more
prevalent by the administrators themselves. What is it with South
Africans that we build up heroes and then abandon them almost as
rapidly, Bob Skinstad, Joe van Niekerk, Ashwin Willemse and several
others, at the national level it should be all about performance and
for less spectacular players there is often only one opportunity to
perform and if not taken that is the end of the road.
One should not discount the fact that there are players who develop
after a longer period and nobody especially this writer is going to
condemn the process whereby players from the disadvantaged community
are given a so-called greater number of opportunities. Ashwin
Willemse excelled at a level that Quinton Davids will only have
dreamed about and players like Solly Tybilika and Hanyani Shimange
are not going to make it at the national level under the current set
up. There are others going through the same scrutiny at the moment
and the media makes their situation almost unbearable because of the
unrealistic expectations placed upon them. On the coaching front we
are faced with similar challenges, the three quarters are all about
rush defence and intercepts and it is openly acknowledged that we
are short of pace when players like Habana are rested, the forwards
that excelled in the Super 14 are somewhat ineffective at the test
level. We see the influence that coaches from overseas have brought
to the Sharks and Bulls backs and the improved scrummaging of the
same teams. I am one of those that believe that Smal and Coetzee are
not the right men for the job. Smal had several opportunities at the
Stormers and choked and Coetzee is just not up to it and never will
be. White has had some spectacular players to work with and has also
learnt through experience, but in my view he should have gone
through the same route as coaches like Muir and Eloff.
The test match against Australia with the so-called “B” Team
demonstrated that experience is critical at the test level and that
combinations cannot be developed in a haphazard manner. What the
Springboks have done with the end of year tour in 06 and the Tri
nations in 07 is what the All Blacks, Wallabies and English have
been doing for several years, I just question the wisdom when this
weeks game against the All Blacks could be a disaster. I sincerely
hope that it is not because one must remember the psychological
impact of such a beating and that these are the potential back up
players for the top twenty that have been left at home. David
Campese absolutely correct when he said that boys do not win test
matches on a consistent basis. Jake White threw Francois Steyn to
the hounds against New Zealand, just as Mallett did the same to
Gaffie du Toit, thank goodness Steyn is being nurtured by others at
the Sharks or he may also not recover sufficiently.
The news that Rassie Erasmus is going to the Cape could be a
blessing in disguise, he has certainly raised the performance of the
Cheetahs in the midst of limited resources and continuous poaching
from the money rich franchises. His position with the national team
is perhaps an indication of the level of support currently available
to the national coach; perhaps the brains trust in the Cape could
also appoint a scrumming coach to support the man in the job at
present. Dawie Theron may not be the best after dinner speaker but
he knows how to get the front five operating and this could be the
difference between success and failure at the World Cup,
specifically if you view the inability of the current team to adapt
their game plan during the course of a test match and one can once
again point to the comments that Campese made during the game
against Australia at Newlands and the All Blacks at Loftus, he may
well have been saying what people like Naas Botha have said for
years, but it was great to hear it from a world famous personality
who has done wonders for the Sharks franchise.
South Africa has the resources and the players to perform at the
World Cup and one hopes that the items highlighted here will be
addressed. The selection of the 30 players for the World Cup should
be based on proven performance whilst taking into consideration the
need for representation and at least this time around there is a lot
more to be optimistic about in comparison to 4 years ago at around
the same time. For what it is worth these are my selections, fitness
and availability permitting.
Coaching Staff:
Head Coach – Jake White
Forwards Coach – Gert Smal
Backs Coach – Alistair Coetzee
Technical Specialist – Rassie Erasmus
Players:
Percy Montgommery and Francois Steyn
Ashwin Willemse, Breyton Paulse and Odwa Ndungane
Jaque Fourie and Waylon Murray
Jean De Villiers and Wayne Julies
Bryan Habana, JP Pietersen and Tonderei Chavanga
Butch James, Andre Pretorius and Peter Grant
Fourie Du Preez, Ruan Pienaar and Enrico Januarie
Pierre Spies and Bob Skinstad
Juan Smith and Danie Roussouw
Schalk Burger and Wikus van Heerden
Victor Matfield and Gerrie Britz
Bakkies Botha and Johan Muller
BJ Botha, CJ van der Linde and Eddie Andrews
John Smit, Gary Botha and Bismark du Plessis
Guthro Steenkamp and Os du Randt
Opening Match
15. Percy Montgommery
14. Ashwin Willemse
13. Jaque Fourie
12. Jean De Villiers
11. Bryan Habana
10. Butch James
09. Fourie Du Preez
08. Danie Roussouw
07. Juan Smith
06. Schalk Burger
05. Victor Matfield
04. Bakkies Botha
03. BJ Botha
02. John Smit
01. Guthro Steenkamp
Reserves:
Gary Botha, Os du Randt, CJ van der Linde, Pierre Spies, Johan
Muller, Francois Steyn, Enrico Januarie and Ruan Pienaar |
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