Lucky for some

A little more than 300 days ago I shook the hand of the new Springbok coach as, with the beautiful mountains of the Boland as a backdrop, he stood waiting to be interviewed.

I expressed the wish that Friday the 13th would turn out to be better for him than April the 1st had been for his predecessor.

It was February 13 and Jake White who, amazing to recall, had not even been on the original list of candidates had just been named as Springbok coach at a Press conference held at the impressive Winelands Hotel amid the vineyards near Paarl.

As the 10th man to sup from the poisoned chalice in the space of 12 years I quipped that I hoped Friday 13th would turn out to be less of a portent of doom than April the 1st, 2002 had turned out to be for his predecessor Rudolf Straeuli.

White took over with Springbok rugby in free-fall. The 2003 World Cup campaign, shot through with controversy, had been an unmitigated disaster and South African rugby, in sixth place, had reached its lowest ebb ever on the IRB’s world ranking list.

Who would have said then that within 10 months South Africa would win the Tri-Nations and win nine out of 13 tests contested; seven of those overseas?

It really has been a miraculous turnaround and White, captain John Smit and everyone involved in Springbok rugby deserve all the plaudits that have come their way.

In my previous column (“Jake’s Progress”) I dealt with the negatives – of which there were, and are, quite a few – but with the spirit of Christmas upon us it is time to give credit where it is due.

White’s greatest attribute has been his honesty, unfailing optimism and loyalty to his players and it is worth recalling that three of the tests lost by his young Boks (21-23 to NZ in Christchurch; 26-30 to Australia in Perth; and 12-17 to Paul Honiss and Ireland in Dublin) could, with a little luck, have gone the other way.

The greatest asset of White’s Class of ’04 is their youth. With their main opponents edging beyond maturity the Springboks, provided they are able to do the right groundwork and are not played into the ground, should as a group be at their peak with perfect timing for RWC 2007 in France.

South Africa is also blessed with great depth and if White is somehow able to manage the (very real and potentially damaging) demands of transformation the future is, indeed, bright.

Some players have emerged as what Real Madrid term “Galacticos”, others are on the cusp of becoming world beaters, some stunning talent has been unearthed, some potential stars have not even been used and the inherent competition for places should spur on or burn off those resting on reputation.

Schalk Burger was obviously the shooting star of the year but my player of the year was scrumhalf Fourie du Preez who made Joost van der Westhuizen’s No9 jersey his own in spite all too often not receiving the kind of protection he should have from his forwards.

The others who, for me, moved into the “World XV” category were locks Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield, even though the former at times appeared to be struggling to stay the pace and the latter is not your classical tight forward they are peerless as a lineout pair.

Percy Montgomery, too, is right up there now as a cool, day-in-and-day-out performer and his goal-kicking has made him an invaluable asset.

Just below these men are a large group of players who could either kick on to become the kind of performer feared by other nations or stay on a level just below the very best.

Flyhalf Jaco van der Westhuyzen is the stand-out player in this category. He deserves more credit than he gets for getting his backs moving and creating try-scoring opportunities and against Scotland he showed there is nothing wrong with his kicking game. With added variety and less frenzy, for want of a better expression, he has it in him to become the kind of player others don’t like playing against.

It stands to reason that the greater number of potential World XV caps in the squad the better the chances of the Springboks once again getting to No1.

Others who gave the Boks an edge were De Wet Barry, more respected overseas than we tend to think, Marius Joubert, although he is still too easily rattled, Jean de Villiers, even though his best position is probably inside centre, while Breyton Paulse’s footballing skills and experience are a priceless asset.

Then there are the group who had but brief cameos but who grabbed these limited chances to make a statement about what they could offer.

Top among these was loose forward Jacques Cronje, whose physical abrasiveness sent a message to all the other loosies, followed by the a set of youngsters in Bryan Habana, Jaque Fourie, Gerrie Britz, CJ van der Linde, Gurthro Steenkamp, Danie Rossouw, Solly Tyibilika and Michael Claassens who would have most other international coaches green with envy.

Skipper John Smit and Joe van Niekerk, even though White moved him to his best position of No8, were among those who suffered because of a wonky scrum and both have much to do – Smit to remove doubts about his claims, as a player, to the No2 jersey and Van Niekerk to add more “mongrel” to his already considerable talents.

AJ Venter looks to be a man who has fallen between two positions (lock and flank), Os du Randt’s performance fell away dramatically towards the end of the tour and tighthead Eddie Andrews, after a good Super 12 and a promising start to his international career, was too often put through the mincer.

Ashwin Willemse probably should not have played, at test level, so soon after recovering from a major injury, Juan Smith spoilt the chance he was given against Wales, Gaffie du Toit starred against the Pumas but did not get a chance in the “real” tests, while the like of Hanyani Shimange, Tim Dlulane, Gcobani Bobo (also recovering from injury) and Wayne Julies had so few opportunities they must have longed for the days of full-on tours with mid-week games.

Jonghi Nokwe was the ultimate apprentice who was never in the frame for a game while the biggest disappointment of the year was Brent Russell – not through anything of his own doing but because a place can’t be found for him in the side.

If Australia can get so much out of Matt Giteau surely there must be room for Russell but for the time being he is a victim of the “good big ‘un” syndrome.

All these fine players as well as Bolla Conradie, Danie Coetzee, Pedrie Wannenburg, Quinton Davids, who all did duty during the season, plus others such as Gary and Ettienne Botha, Richard Bands and Tonderai Chavanga just waiting for the call-up and a pretty encouraging picture emerges.

Thus, all things considered 2004 has been a very good year – a year we dared not dream of on Friday, February 13. So raise a glass of the Cape’s finest and toast Jake, John and the Boys this Christmas. They have given us our pride back and that is all we can ask.

To you and yours, wherever you are, a peaceful festive season and a new year filled with success and happiness. Cheers!