A rugby red card for Meyer and his motley crew over SA Bok's defeat by Japan

By Wren Mast-Ingle

I have been a rugby fan for some 70 years.  The first test I watched was the Boks play the All Blacks at Ellis Park in 1949.  It was a game that had all the elements found in the best of human endeavour and I was totally captivated with the discipline from that day. I suppose in retrospect I have been something of an ideal fan, living the great moments brought about by the titans of the 15-man team. I have always been proud for the honours the sons of this country have brought home while somehow oblivious to the damaging and detrimental apartheid scourge that has affected everyone.

So why after all this time does my support lie with Ireland in the 2015 World Cup?  This question will be answered in the conclusion of this dissertation.

My criticism of South African rugby; the Bok team; its coach and management and the entire structure of administration supported by sponsors would not be valid unless I offered solutions.  In this exercise I trust that I reflect enough of the opinion of what the aforementioned blithely reject as armchair critics while milking them of money in the form of high priced tickets to matches and TV contracts running into hundreds of millions.

I may lose many friends and create a lot of antagonism but for what I have had from rugby, I would like to offer something back even if it only is a thought-starter.

How fortunate for the game in South Africa that the Japanese highlighted our deficiencies.  Even the most ardent of naysayers to coach Meyer’s approach and selections in the past were even left speechless at the lacklustre, inept and absence of strategy by the largely geriatric (in rugby terms) squad hobbling behind the determined and motivated Japanese.

The blame lies squarely with the coach and his training team, the players and the selectors.  However this burden must also be shared by all the sports administrators from the Minister down; the sponsors; many of the rugby sportswriters and most specifically the ‘click’ that holds the decision-making regarding professional contracts – and essential step in the progress towards becoming a Bok.

To address their roles which culminated in the ‘kamikaze’ result I will start with the coach and his trainers.  Meyer quite frankly has not got a clue as to the modern game of rugby.  His laager mentality, obsession with experience and favouritism has been the downfall of SA’s reputation and decades of being held in high esteem around the world where the game finds favour.  His selection of the long-past-their-prime Matfield, Du Preez and De Villiers; injured or recently rehabilitated players such as Coenie Oosthuizen and others with little or no game time (Du Toit), displays a total lack of understanding of today’s game and the inability to assess a team’s composition or strategy basics.

Also why doesn’t Meyer look at the stats regarding the pedestrian Pienaar – such as how many tests has he played in which the Boks have lost compared to how many (in the same era) they have won without him? One cannot wonder if he is really a team jinx.

Remedy:  Fire Meyer and his assistants.  Appoint Johan Ackermann and his assistants who have produced the best squad in this country for the past few years.  Unfortunately he and the Lions are not in favour with those above.

Next in my line up are the players.  What has happened to the passion and honour displayed prior to the seventies?  In 1949 the players bought their own togs, found their own way to the venue and put everything on the line for their country and fellow players.  Unfortunately professionalism and the accompanying rewards have skewered the ambitions and selections of players and teams respectively. 

The situation is camouflaged in touting De Villiers as a great leader and captain while the real reason for him being there is the financial contract he holds with its high-flying benefits.  And here the selectors come into focus.  Not only do they appear to give contracts to players for reasons other than skill on the field, rumours have surfaced and a number of discussions in the media have taken place recently that there is a ‘click’ that limits aspiring and potential black Bok protégés access to professional contracts and favours white Afrikaans-speaking –often sons of former players.

Remedy:    Players are treated as professionals so just as in business, pay them for success, cancel contracts for repeated failures and award bonuses on achievements.  There is great transformation in rugby from schools to the clubs.  Remove the stumbling blocks to progressing further.  The Minister of Sport should go beyond ‘lip-service’ to transformation and tackle the heart of the problem – the people who hold the purse strings and selectors.

Institute a ‘black’ competition and select a side to play their ‘white’ counterparts.  Far from becoming a war in a country that has had some 25 years to mature its democracy it could engender enthusiasm and support for the game on an entirely new level.

Make no mistake, the sponsors of rugby themselves are the ones that help facilitate lame performances such that against Japan (I wonder how many people took up the 30-1 odds offered on the team?) by funding these structures.   It is their money that ‘oils the wheels’ of this badly run machine.  But there is no doubt they get a substantial Return on Investment while extorting all to become fans, support the team with purchases of jerseys and other paraphernalia.   

They are also responsible for turning the game into a circus to help attract ticket-buying fans and TV audiences.  There was nothing as predictive to the historic loss as the Miss South Africa approach to announcing the Bok team and parading them on a stage parade with commentators trying to drum up enthusiasm at the poorly attended Monte Casino farewell to the team.

Remedy:  Boycott the sponsors until they use their influence to address the failings of the rugby system in South Africa from transformation to the way professional contracts are awarded.  They should also ensure that their Corporate Social Investment is in line with what they are getting out of the deals.  There is no doubt that fans have a lot to offer – even if the professional rugby administrators think otherwise.  It is ironic that it took public pressure to get Willie le Roux selected just to name one case.  Simply, if there were no fans there would be no money to be made.  It is time to give fans a say and since they pay the way for the game to be played, let us all have a vote as to who will represent us on the world stage.  There is no doubt the result will be a lot better than what Meyer’s dictatorship has brought about.

Finally I get to rugby journalists in the writing and broadcasting professions.  I am talking generally here as naturally they cannot all be tarred with the same brush.  Most of these experts where completely off-sided by the Japanese win.  There also appears to be no shortage of kow-towing to everyone from officials to players.  This may be to secure exclusive stories or perks such a tours or publicising players to help they in their careers which mostly is touted by managers looking to increase their commission and fees.

Unfortunately, while the cutting down to size of the Boks by the diminutive Japanese may be an exception defying any predictions, there are often glaring anomalies on the part of journalists who display a lack of understanding of the game and/or attempts to gloss over to assuage whoever is paying the bills.  It was not enough that Supersport’s Xola Ntshinga said to his panel during the preview of the match ‘I am not going to ask you who will win as that is obvious…just give me the margins’ (I paraphrase). 

In a subsequent 702 bumbling radio interview Ashwin Willemse created a hole for himself in saying that the blame should not be attributed to Meyer alone but also the team as whole.  He then went on to say that Eddie Jones, the Japanese coach had done his homework and applied a strategy that sank the Boks.  By extrapolation therefore one must assume that Meyer was either incapable or simply did not do his homework.  Willemse obviously did not want to say this in so many words which puts both his expertise and legitimacy in question.  This however is only one example and apart from that a seemingly lone voice in the wilderness is Andy Capostagnoa, Rugby Writer of the Year 2007, who has gone public about the woes of our rugby.

Remedy:  This is a difficult one in a situation also prevalent among motoring journalists who benefit from overseas trips and other manufacturer perks to bring motorists ‘unbiased’ articles on new cars and the like.  Most people do not have the time to actively campaign against what I call ‘influenced journalism’ so the answer may lie in simply not reading or viewing the perceived culprits. Without a following there is no point in putting pen to paper so to speak.

So where does this leave us?  On the one hand I am simply supporting Ireland because of their passion and commitment to the game not that I have any ties with the Irish (except for a few friends). I am too disappointed with the South African game as a whole to support my own country.  I have been watching and enjoying rugby at all levels for the past 70 years and was delighted when at long last transformation was advocated.  However the present situation engenders a sadness in me that does not appear to have any antidote…I suppose one might say my enthusiasm has been kicked into touch.