The many 'layers' of James Martin Stonehouse

ONE-ON-ONE: James Martin Stonehouse is often depicted as an unfaltering, inveterate disciplinarian. This bred-in-the-bone, old-school coach looks the part.

Yet, there is so many layers to the Pumas’ colourful taskmaster, affectionately called Jimmy, that make him one of the most celebrated mentors in South Africa.

Born in Krugersdorp, a mining city on the West Rand of the Gauteng Province, the now 61-year-old Stonehouse played hooker for South Eastern Transvaal and also represented them at the annual national Craven Week tournament.

Stonehouse also took part in bodybuilding competitions, winning the Mr South Africa competition in 2005 and finishing sixth in the Mr Universe competition in 2006.

There was never a shortage of ‘reports’ of his ‘no-nonsense’ and ‘difficult’ demeanour.

During his playing days, he was also a teacher at Hoërskool Ermelo, the place where the ‘coaching bug’ bit him.

“I had a coach, Skip Scheepers, with whom we had singing sessions and team talks on Friday evenings,” he told @rugby365com in an all-encompassing interview about his passion for coaching.

“I always enjoyed singing,” Stonehouse said, adding: “In the 23 years that I was a teacher, there was not one Friday night that I did not have a team talk.”

At times, he coached two teams, with team talks on Friday during the day and in the evening.

“It all started at school,” he said of his intenseness and fervour for coaching.

In his final year of studies, he underwent surgery to repair and rehabilitate an injured leg.

That was followed by a teaching stint at Hoërskool Ermelo, his alma mater, starting his coaching at the Under-14 B team.

The same year, 1990, he was ‘promoted’ to the First XV.

“That is when I realised there was something within me that liked this coaching ‘thing’,” he told @rugby365com, adding: “Discipline was always a big factor for me.

“That is also where my singing started. I even took charge of the school’s singing at athletic events.

“Those are the two aspects of my coaching – discipline and a good spirit.

“I also enjoyed drawing, especially rugby sketches.”

His ‘expertise’ is not restricted to on-field coaching.

Over the years, the intellectual side often came to the fore, and he produced syllabi for Grade Eight and Nine.

Then there was the ‘footwork’ video he produced in collaboration with Springbok Gary Botha, when he moved from Hoërskool Ermelo to Hoërskool Waterkloof in 1998.

Success followed him as his reputation grew, and out of the blue followed offers from Russia, first to assist with their Under-19 team, and then he took their Sevens team to the 2001 World Cup.

“I was coaching at Waterkloof at the time, and the Russian Under-19 team was training at the Pretoria Police club.

“Willie Hills [Bulls and Springbok prop in the 1990s] was looking for assistance with the Russian Under-19 team. I coached the Russian U19 team in the mornings and the Waterkloof schools team in the afternoon.

“They played a curtain raiser against Tukkies at Loftus Versfeld and beat the University of Pretoria. Russia asked me to accompany them to the IRB-FIRA [U19 World Cup] in France.”

The young Russian team lost to their Georgian counterparts in the Final, but that was enough the elicit an invitation to coach the Russian Sevens team at the World Cup.

That Russian team beat Georgia in the Plate Final.

The tournament featured legends of the game such as Jonah Lomu, Waisale Serevi, Agustín Pichot, Chester Williams, Breyton Paulse and Bobby Skinstad.

Stonehouse continued coaching at Waterkloof, but in 2005 and 2006, he also coached the Blue Bulls’ Women’s Sevens side and the Women’s national Sevens side that won the Africa tournament held in Uganda in 2006.

That team was captained by Marlize van der Merwe, a World Rugby Level Three coach and boundary-pushing referee.

He also coached the Blue Bulls women’s Sevens team that year.

At the time, Stonehouse also coached the Pretoria Harlequins club and the Blue Bulls Craven Week side.

In 2008, the offer came to start coaching the Pumas in Nelspruit.

A year later, 2009, he coached the Royal XV against the British and Irish Lions, the South African Barbarians (2012) and South Africa President’s XV (2013).

From 2015 to 2017, he coached the Brave Lupus in Japan.

“There was always this carrot that the Pumas would get a spot in an international competition, but that never materialised,” Stonehouse said.

Before his departure, he had accumulated a team that included the likes of Vincent Koch, Uzair Cassiem, Faf de Klerk and Rosko Specman.

In his absence, the Pumas’ results declined, and then Pumas President Hein Mentz called Stonehouse and asked him to ‘return home’.

“There was again talk of the Pumas joining the URC, but that never materialised,” Stonehouse said.

The ultimate highlight of a decorated coaching career came in 2022, when Stonehouse’s Nelspruit-based team beat Griquas 26-19 in the Final at Griqua Park in Kimberley.

However, the build-up to the season was overshadowed by high drama.

Several players who were ‘on loan’ to the Lions, returned about a fortnight before the start of the season, with offers to join the Lions.

This included captain and stalwart lock Pieter Jansen van Vuren, Morgan Naudé (prop), Matt More (centre) and Ginter Smuts (scrumhalf).

“I told them to take the offers, because we didn’t want ‘negative’ influences in the team,” a pertinacious Stonehouse said.

“We ended up winning the tournament, but the challenging part was that we had to travel for the play-offs – beating the Cheetahs [38-35 in the semifinal in Bloemfontein], travelling back to Nelspruit and then to Kimberley for the Final [won 26-19 by the Pumas].

“That made that win so special, having to travel.”

The following year, they again reached the Final, but lost 17-25 to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.

This year they won the SA Cup and also have three First Division titles in the bank (2005, 2009 and 2013).

Looking to the future, Stonehouse revealed that there have been a couple of recent offers from abroad, “but I turned them down,” he told @rugby365com.

“Before 2015, I did not get any opportunities.

“The Japan offer first came up in 2013 and again 2014, but I had hoped for an offer in South Africa.

“At the time, I was seen as tough to work with, and I am very outspoken.

“However, my approach was not to address the person in front of me, but rather the problem.

“My approach is not to address the player making the mistake, but tackle and improve the mistake itself.

“It is a massive issue in our country. Players are very sensitive about issues.

“You can only learn if your mistakes are pointed out to you.”

Stonehouse believes that he made the right decision to return home from Japan.

“There are many people who would like to be in my position.

“Someone coaching a Craven Week team would like to move to a more superior position, but there are many who love to just have an opportunity to coach a Craven Week team.

“You have to have ambition and move forward.

“Many people would like to go abroad and make a success there, while my dream was to be successful in South Africa.

“I have signed with the Pumas till 2029.

“If an opportunity comes after that, I might consider it.

“However, the Pumas are close to my heart. When no one wanted to give me a chance, the Pumas did.

“That is why I am so loyal to the Pumas.

“It is important for me that the Pumas do well and get into an international competition, so that we can get bigger sponsorships and retain players.

“The biggest challenge for players is to be noticed by coaches, and that only happens in international competitions.”

@rugby365com

 

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