Any sports coach would love to be in Springbok mentor Jacques Nienaber’s shoes.
Imagine never having been the head coach of a team, yet you get the gig of a lifetime - coaching the world champion Springboks. Sounds like something in a storybook, a Ted-Lasso-type TV series.
But it’s a true story, not a word of a lie.
Add to this the fact that your long-term bra is your boss and will help you when things go south and the fairytale becomes even better.
With relaxed selection protocols - I’m referring to previous coach Allister Coetzee who couldn’t select overseas-based Boks with fewer than 30 Test caps to their name - and you already have a smoother ride.
It’s understandable then that the chinks in Nienaber’s armour have flown under the radar and it’s because South Africans are still vasgevang in the Rassie Erasmus euphoria of 2019.
The Boks are ranked fourth in the world and have lost 40 percent of their matches this year.
Previous coach Coetzee was fired for less, losing 30 percent of his matches in his final year in charge of the team.
In fairness, Coetzee played 13 Tests of which he won seven, drew two and lost four.
To date this year, Nienaber has won six of his 10 Tests and lost four.
At the time Coetzee claimed he was set up for failure. Now his team’s got groot pakke when they lost 0- like the 57-0 defeat to New Zealand, so at the time I didn’t agree with him.
But I’ve have changed my mind wholeheartedly since - especially seeing privileged position Nienaber currently finds himself in.
Here’s the thing - lose to France on Saturday and I expect the South African Rugby Union in the form of Mark Alexander to publicly state his concern about the team leading into a World Cup year.
The Boks are no longer the rolling maul force that made them world champs in 2019 - teams have figured out how to nullify our mauls - as was evident in the 19-16 defeat to Ireland.
Furthermore, what’s the point of scrumming for kickable penalties when the coach insists that a specialist goalkicker at flyhalf is not a necessity?
I’d agree if he had a recognised goalkicker in ex-Wallabies Matt Giteau at inside centre or Stirling Mortlock at 13, even Frans Steym at 15 or former France ace Dimitri Yachvili at nine, but he doesn’t have a kicker in any other position.
Yet at international level where they lost by three points last week, where Argentina beat England by one point and so kan ons aangaan, the coach preaches that his flyhalf doesn’t have to be a recognised goal-kicker. And with no one else recognised as a kicker in the team, are you saying you don’t need a recognised goal-kicker in an international team?
Add to this the Springboks’ refusal to run the ball even when they have overlaps as rightly pointed out by former coaches Nick Mallett and Swys de Bruin on Supersport's Final Whistle and it becomes clear that this Bok team is becoming stale under Nienaber.
Kerels, 2019 is so yesteryear.
Now get this, the director of rugby (pal Rassie) had to jump in quickly this week before his bra drowned.
Rassie was supposed to help coach the SA ‘A’ team in their match against Munster tonight, but because he couldn’t leave the Boks in the capable hands of Nienaber, he decided to leave Mzwandile Stick to handle matters in the A team.
So if the Boks go down, who takes the blame?
Or are both at fault or are they simply untouchable?
You tell me.
dudley.carstens@inl.co.za