Atrocious treatment of Os
rugby365.com columnist Grant Ball says the axing of Os du Randt just six months before the World Cup is a mistake from Peter de Villiers and SARU.
Du Randt commands respect the world over. Two World Cup-winners medals as a player from 1995 and 2007 will do that for you. That he’s been dumped by De Villiers is perplexing.
Money is the excuse used by SARU, but this is the same organisation who has repeatedly said they won’t spare any expense in ensuring the Boks become the only side to defend their World title. Once again, those statements have proved to be public utterances with little substance.
That a legendary figure like Du Randt has been treated in such a way, where he’s changed his personal plans to work with the Boks only to be dumped at a late stage, says a lot about the characters of the powerbrokers in South African rugby – from the coach to the top brass at SARU.
Based purely on performance, there was no way Du Randt should have been in the firing line. In 2009, the Bok scrum was a mess. In 2010, it was never a problem. Much of that had to do with shifting John Smit to his preferred hooker position, based on Du Randt’s advice. That’s the sort of guidance a player who’s featured in three World Cups can offer. Not only as scrumming consultant, but the mentorship he could provide to any player in the squad – from the most experienced in Smit to Pat Lambie – would be invaluable as the respect he’s earned is unrivalled.
Man management was a supposed De Villiers strength, but to call Du Randt ‘the X-factor the side needs’, and then to fire him, shows how he misled him.
Similar things have happened to players, from Frans Steyn to Ruan Pienaar, further harming claims that De Villiers’ only strength is actually a weakness too.
However, the treatment of Du Randt shouldn’t be surprising, just judging how De Villiers has handled his assistant coaches and tried to get rid of them.
Early last year De Villiers was already ranting in the media about Gary Gold’s ‘disloyalty’, but ironically De Villiers was the one who later tried to get rid of Gold and Muir – his main ally – after last year’s Tri-Nations. He essentially blamed his assistants for the side’s wooden spoon finish and two home losses.
SARU denied the proposed firings, but it’s common knowledge De Villiers approached many coaches from Heyneke Meyer, John Mitchell, Rassie Erasmus to Allister Coetzee, to take the assistants’ place. All of the above weren’t interested, barring Erasmus, who was in negotiations with SARU until just before the Boks left for their November tour. Typifying De Villiers’ confusion, the Bok coach then back-tracked on his intent to lure Erasmus and said he didn’t need any help.
De Villiers’ defence regarding Du Randt’s omission would be that he had no control over the decision. But he does, as he’s the one trying to acquire numerous coaches to consult for the Boks. De Villiers now again wants Erasmus and the Boks’ consultant at the last World Cup – Eddie Jones.
De Villiers approached Jones and met with him on February 4 in a Johannesburg hotel at the insistence of players such as Fourie du Preez, who is an avid Jones fan (he will head to his club Suntory after the World Cup). Luring Jones, another move prompted by the senior players, inadvertently shows how little faith they have in their coach and his technical ability.
Sunday newspaper reports claimed that Jones is still in talks with De Villiers, but he has rejected the offer.
That Jones has declined to work with the Boks is a big blow to their title hopes, because currently there is little analysis being done behind the scenes, while someone with real rugby knowledge would have added invaluable insight.
In addition to that, the removal of Du Randt will have further negative ramifications for the Boks’ World Cup defence.
Grant Ball writes for RugbyXV.
