Jul 10
24
Another Era Another Coach Same Supporters
One would natually vent frustration out at the coach and players and call for heads to be chopped after the shocking performances in New Zealand over the past two weeks.
Not only was the games lost but the heads of some of the springboks were too. One can only question the coach about that, as it is the coach’s responsibility to imprint discipline into the minds of the players. Peter De Villers actually said before the first Tri Nations match of 2010 that the springboks would try and play disciplined rugby without cheating. Then Bakkies goes and intentionally tries to cause bodily harm. So much for the team listening… or is it fair to say the team.
Individuals need to take responsibility for their actions, but the coach knows the players history and should be stricter on repetitive transgressors, no matter who they are. You can only say sorry so many times before action has to be taken!
Ok, enough of the past two games. How about we look at the past two coaches as supporters are calling for the coach to be replaced with someone who can actually coach. People calling the coach a clown or puppet, should really think about what they saying. OK, so we live in reality, with quota selections etc, but I assure you most sports are coming into disrepute over team members origin selections or related issues. The coach being a puppet doesn’t mean this puppet is a bad coach. As a coach you rely on input from your management team and in the difficult situations you need to make the final decisions, but its their input you need to value too. Gone are the days when you have a coach making all the decisions by themselves. There are specialists in areas surrounding the game, human and computer generated which assist the coach in decisions. Jake White brought in an Aussie to assist him and then he brought home the World Cup, which is a great achievement and we commend him for it. But shouldn’t we also commend Peter De Villiers for his achievements, after all he has had a far better record than our World Cup Hero Winning Coach , Jake White.
Supporters condemn PDV on his selection of a team and say he is only riding the Jake White World Cup winning team wave. Why is this seen as a negative against De villiers name? This is a postive decision as he sees the value in experience. PDV should be commended on not making wholesale changes, when taking over as coach, and not condemned. The results speak for themselves.
Back to the present team selections. While you recall the World Cup is only next year, and while some “quota” selections can be scrutinised, there is definitely a place for the risk selections. When choosing a world cup squad you have a limited number of members. Should anything happen to any player we should have decent cover and backup for that role. Giving players real International Pressure Game experience this year will hopefully be the secret to our success in 2011 and making us the first team with back to back World Cup Victories. I’m not talking about total different team changes like Graham Henry did prior to the World Cup 2007, where each week there was a total different team on the pitch. These changes happening are players who either need more game time at international level in their preferred positions, or experienced players with proven ability to find alternative positions while maintaining their experience in the team. All subtle changes here and there, not whole team dynamic changes.
I’m sure it isn’t all doom and gloom for this coming Saturdays match against the Aussies as in the past two weeks. The boks should and can beat Australia, but it won’t be the end of the World…….. Cup if we don’t.
Lets get behind our Team the Springboks and our Coach with his management team as their success record speaks for itself over the years.
Lets GO BOKKE!! Lets GO!
