Will the real Dick Muir step forward
Sharks coach Dick Muir is best known for his creative abilities as a player, which of course earned him Springbok colours, and more recently his unbeaten run as Sharks coach. But there's also a far more mischievous side to Muir. Former Springbok and Scotland hooker John Allan interviewed Muir for the Rugby News/Rugby Nuus magazines. We publish extracts here with kind permission of the magazines.
With the Wallabies reeling form three consecutive defeats, Jeremy Balkin – a reader from Australia – reflects on what went wrong and what needs putting right.
(The magazines are available at major new agencies [CNA, PNA, etc.] and supermarkets. For those wanting to subscribe or want to know more about the magazines, they can visit the websites: www.sarugbynews.co.za or www.sarugbynuus.co.za.)
Question: Tell the readers about your school career, were you a mischievous schoolboy?
Answer: I attended Kokstad High until Std. 5 and then it was off to boarding school at Queens College in Queenstown in the hope it would discipline me because I used to cause havoc. [JA: it didn't work]. I was a little mischievous and I can remember bunking out in the early hours of the morning to get fresh bread at a bakery only to be greeted by six of the best [strikes with a cane] on my return, which hurt like hell, through my pyjamas with no undies.
* After school Muir went to Cedara Agriculture College and thereafter he did your national service [in the military], before he landed in Durban.
Q: What led you here [Durban] and how did you enjoy your early days involved in club rugby?
A: I started off on the farm, and I negotiated with my Dad for one year's leave of absence, to come to Durban to play rugby. My club rugby with Glenwood and Crusaders was great; clubs are the heart and soul for bringing up your rugby players and cultivating their characters. The social activity in these clubs was phenomenal where you played hard on and off the field and you met mates who today are still some of my closest friends.
Q: Ian Mac [McIntosh – former Sharks and Bok mentor], your long standing coach always pulled his hair out
(what little he had) with you about your condition at pre-season practice, why was this and what did you do to get into prime condition?
A: I was a farmer, so in Durban the closest I was to farming stock was the Cattleman, and you should know it well John because you were with me most times, and although it was conducive to fun times it was bad for my conditioning. I had a ritual at pre-season which the guys used to back me up with, I would arrive with long hair, tight shirt, pants and white skin looking out of condition on which Tony Watson would remark loudly. Two weeks later, I would cut my hair, wear baggy shirt, pants and have a tan, again Tony would remark loudly on my improvement. Mac then used me as an example of a dedicated player who was going the extra yards to gain maximum fitness … thanks guys; you saved my bacon.
Q: You were considered the catalyst for creating the team spirit, amongst all the great Natal and Sharks teams of the 90's, what was your secret?
A: I kept things simple with no hidden agenda's; I would make a point of going to all team members to try and make everyone feel special emphasising that they were needed and wanted. I also wanted to maintain the enjoyment levels so that everyone was having fun.
Q: Zinzan Brooke says you should blame your looks on Henry Honiball; do you know why this is the case?
A: Very simple; Lem was too solid in defence, so they would switch to my channel and I would have to do al should be put in place in the short, medium and long term to pull themselves out from the bottom of the pile?
A: In the short term I would like them to play the correct brand of rugby where the players enjoy themselves and improve as a team week in and week out. In the medium term I would like to bolster the squad through talent acquisition and create a culture that is unique to The Sharks brand. In the long term I would to play the correct brand of rugby that is a winning style by scoring bucketsful of tries and create a new legacy of Sharks rugby.
Q: Looking at the big picture where would you like to see SA Rugby going?
A: That they run SARU as a successful business and do justice to the great players we have in this country.
[Footnote from John Allan: On a personal note I think Dick Muir is very special in the joy he brings to people both on and off the rugby field. If a stranger was sitting in a bar, after having a day where the whole world collapsed around him, sipping a drink and contemplating suicide, and Dick Muir walked in and sat next to him, I can promise you that the stranger would have left the bar that night thinking the world was a wonderful place to live in and he would be motivated to resurrect his life again, such is the magnetism and energy that he passes on to others. He is a pleasure to be with and I consider myself fortunate to be a good mate of his.]
