being a saffir rugby supporter i find it quite hard to watch my side lose and today we played the aussies and lost our 4th game in a row! I think most people (besides some aussies i know ;-)) would agree that while both sides were poor, in the second half south africa were the better side and possibly deserved the win more.
In the last 6 weeks we have: lost to france (after being 27-12 up) by 10 points; lost to the aussies (massive hiding 49-0) by 49 points; lost to the kiwis (after being 17-17) by 12 points; and lost to the aussies again (after being 5 points up with 2 mins to go) but only by 2 points.
before this game there was much talk of jake white and the springboks having lost the plot, which I cannot argue with, however there are other forces at play. We have lost 4 key players to injury and this combined with selection quotas means we do not have the best squad to choose from. No where was this more evident than the 1st 2 tests against the aussies & the kiwis.
Be that as it may the springboks under jake white have performed better than many previous saffir coaches since our inclusion back into the international game 15 years ago. In the past 3 years since our disastrous Camp Stalingrad and World Cup campaign, we have won 1 tri-nations, narrowly lost the last tri-nations to the kiwis and while we appear to be completely out of it this year, I saw enough good work today and in the second half of the kiwi game 2 weeks ago to suggest that we could still get a few good results back in the next 3 home games.
Sometimes the saffir public are too quick to point fingers and lay blame when we get a few bad results in a row, lets show some support for a change and give the coach and the team some breathing room to deliver the goods in the last 3 tri-nations games and finish the year as contenders for the world cup next year.
If they do fall short of the mark in these next 3 games and the end of year games, then perhaps something needs to change, but getting rid of a coach less than a year before a world cup is a big risk!
I think there are other options....
Coaching turnaround and the requirements for results super-fast is presumably a symptom of rugby becoming more professional and attracting more money. (How long would Rafa last if the reds keep losing 5-0?)
So it would be interesting to look at the underlying structural conditions situations where a manager/managing team (or the training and grassroots organsations elsewhere) are given time to build something that will last. For instance, Man U's training schools. Australia's Inst of Sport (what is is in SA?). England Rugby was the best funded by far ahead of 2003 (the results since reminding us that financial committment can only ever be one piece of the jigwsaw). And will Juve give Deschamps time, or is there more urgency then ever?
Posted by: rodcorp | 08 August 2006 at 09:05 AM