Time to go back to Mallett

"If that happens (and he is sacked) it will be chaos, absolute chaos." The words belonged to a prominent current Springbok, only he was not talking about Rudolf Straeuli.

The conversation took place after a rugby press conference over three years ago. The topic of discussion was the imminent sacking by SA Rugby (Pty) Ltd of coach Nick Mallett.

How prophetic those words were to prove. Looking back now, after a failed World Cup, it is impossible to deny that it has indeed been chaos. Two changes of coach have followed Mallett, and in that time you can count almost as few Springbok wins against top teams.

There have in fact been four - Harry Viljoen's team did the trick in the second test against a young French side in Durban in 2001 and again against Australia in Pretoria the same season; Rudolf Straeuli managed it twice against Australia in games where the Bok matchwinner was a player not initially selected in the starting team and then later shunned completely.

It is a fact that since Mallett was forced out with a 78% success record because he dared to agree with the public view about the price of test tickets, the Boks have not managed to beat New Zealand or England. They have not even come close, with the seven-point margin of victory in Durban in 2002 being the nearest the All Blacks have come to being defeated.

Now it is true that Mallett also lost test matches. I should know because I was one of his biggest critics when he did. Most of his success against the top nations was achieved in the first two years of his stint with the Boks, when he went 18 matches without defeat. In his last 18 months in charge, his team lost quite a few games and there were a few unwanted records thrown in.

But during that time when the magic had supposedly gone the Boks did beat New Zealand twice, England twice and Australia, then the world champion team, once. While there was not always complete continuity in selection at a time when some top players were coming to the end of their careers, Mallett was always very clear about what he was trying to do.

Even the axing of Gary Teichmann as captain, a move I vehemently criticised and something he has subsequently apologised for, was explained in logical terms. He may have been wrong, but there were good rugby reasons that underpinned his decision.

An astute rugby brain who was a deep thinker, not even his harshest critics could deny that Mallett knew his stuff as a coach. He has subsequently underlined that by guiding his team to the French title.

Ever since his axing, which came after a narrow last-minute defeat to the champion Australian team and a good win over New Zealand seven days earlier, the Springboks have appeared to be in a downward spiral.

It really is hard to imagine a team coached by Mallett conceding a 50 pointer to England at Twickenham and he would almost certainly have seen to it that the Boks would have been more competitive in the recent World Cup than they were.

Viljoen, his immediate successor as coach, did understand what Mallett did - namely that future success depended on the team being infused with skill and intelligence as opposed to an overload of testosterone and passion.

But Viljoen had not been coaching at any level for a good couple of seasons and he was simply not up to date with modern trends. It became clear to me quite soon after Viljoen's appointment that the Boks would have been better off sticking with Mallett. Indeed, the headline on a newspaper article I wrote after the Twickenham defeat of Viljoen's first tour proclaimed the words "Bring back Mallett, all is forgiven".

Now, three years later, it has become even more obvious that the sacking of Mallett was the biggest mistake that our rugby bosses ever made. SA Rugby MD Rian Oberholzer was right when he said the other day that there has been too much chopping and changing of coaches. But there are times when chopping is necessary. It was not necessary in 2000, but it is clearly necessary in 2003, which is the start of the next cycle towards another World Cup in 2007.

It has become fashionable suddenly for everyone wanting to defend Rudolf Straeuli to point to the Clive Woodward experience with England. But if there are people who really think the two can be compared then I can only agree with Mallett's published dim view of the rugby knowledge of both the general public and those who make the decisions.

Even minnow teams like Canada appeared more organised and played to a more discernable pattern at the World Cup than the Springboks did.

South African rugby needs an astute rugby brain to bring back the pride and to halt the current trend for South Africans to start supporting the All Blacks. The malaise which has led to would-be Bok supporters high-fiving each other when the All Blacks score tries against the green and gold has to be halted - and quickly.

My own view that South Africa should be looking overseas for a national coach has been repeated often. Failing that, there are several good coaches in the country who have now built up the necessary experience. Heyneke Meyer is an obvious candidate, while many of the young players who went to the World Cup were first discovered by Jake White, or indeed the national sevens coach, Chester Williams.

But if you are looking for a safe way of ensuring that the next Springbok coach will not represent just another slight delay before another chop and change, go to someone who has been there before and succeeded.

It is time, for the good of our rugby, to forget petty personal differences, press the rewind button and undo the chopping and changing of the past few years by going back to the start. In short, it is time to do what André Markgraaff suggested before the appointment of Straeuli and go cap in hand to Nick Mallett and ask him if he will help South African rugby regain its old pride.

There is some merit in the call to keep the team that played in the World Cup together. But as Straeuli never discovered those players (the pack was built by Meyer at the Bulls, White brought through the youngsters), there is no reason why that should mean you also keep the coach.