Gambling with a player's future

There were two big rugby news events in the first full week of January and they may not have been as unrelated as they might appear on the surface.

Bob Skinstad's departure to play overseas will not be mourned by everyone. In a rugby culture where flamboyance and individualism is frowned upon, it should never have been that surprising that Skinstad was not universally popular.

In his first two seasons with Western Province and the Stormers, when he really was a remarkable talent, the pizzazz and charisma that he brought to his game attracted resentment from fellow players and incurred the wrath of those on the terraces.

Yet those who supported him warmed to Skinstad like no other. The five successive weeks that Newlands was sold out when Skinstad led his Men in Black to the brink of Super 12 glory in 1999 created an unprecedented buzz in the city of Cape Town. Skinstad had much to do with it.

Skinstad placed his stamp on the Stormers team that he led, and he was not afraid to be his own person. Significantly, his coach Alan Solomons was of like mind, and allowed the Skinstad personality to have free reign.

Solomons was subsequently criticised for this, but that was only after Skinstad had been injured in a late night car accident, so robbing the Stormers of his influential leadership. Who knows what might have been achieved had Skinstad stayed on for the last weeks of the competition?

Like Skinstad, Solomons was misunderstood by those South Africans who had been reared to believe that rugby players should be treated like schoolboys.

Solomons, now coaching Ulster, believed that adults should be treated like adults, and he had no time for the boorishness that characterised so much of the rest of South African rugby culture.

Perhaps one of the biggest compliments ever to be paid to Skinstad came from an experienced South African player following last year's World Cup fiasco.

"I was never the greatest Bob Skinstad fan, but one thing I do know for sure is that if he was captain he would never have stood for Camp Staaldraad and some of the other rubbish that the players had to put up with."

Maybe, maybe not. We'll never know, but I'll go with what my source had to say.

Skinstad is many things, and some of his behaviour does appear a bit precious at times, but one thing he was not was your average South African rugby player willing to sacrifice intelligence and individualism to the false gods of discipline and uniformity.

Which is why I for one will miss his presence on the South African rugby firmament. It is also why his absence might just leave a much bigger void in our rugby than many people would imagine.

I have not spoken to Skinstad for quite a few months, so I cannot speak for him. But knowing the Skinstad personality, it would be reasonable to assume that the shortlist drawn up of potential replacements for axed Bok coach Rudolf Straeuli, coupled with the complete disaster that has been made of the Bok coaching job since the sacking of Nick Mallett, might have helped him make up his mind.

And with the precedent set in Europe by the Kolpak handball case expected to open the way for more foreigners in the British league, don't be too surprised if plenty others follow.

One of the things that the new SA Rugby administration promised when it took power was that the most important assets, the players, would be consulted in future.

According to those I have been in contact with, however, they were not asked their views on the appointment of the new national coach, which will have a huge bearing on their livelihoods in the coming season and beyond.

I have not done any scientific research on the matter, but if the players were consulted you would probably find they would want the new man at the Springbok helm to possess lots of experience and be reasonably assured of being around for more than just 18 months.

What they don't want is another appointment done on a wing and a prayer and dependent more on wishful thinking than it is on rugby logic.

The two most recent Bok coaches, Harry Viljoen and Straeuli, had little or no recent coaching track record, and with one exception you have to say the same about the four man shortlist.

Ultimately it should be the best man for the job for the simple reason that the best man will stick around longer, thus causing less confusion, uncertainty and discontinuity in the lives of the players.

Every gamble on a Springbok coach is a gamble with the future of this country's top players. Which is why if I was in their position right now I would be talking to my agent and asking what options are available in parts of the world where ability and experience are more important entries on a coaching CV than where he was born or which official's back he likes to rub.