John Dobson takes aim at the 'Boogie haters'
Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill coined the famous maxim: ‘A riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.’
The late British Prime Minister was referring to a shocking, unpredictable, and contradictory shift in the geopolitics of the Second World War.
However, it also applies aptly to World Cup-winning Springboks like Willem Jacobus le Roux and Warrick Wayne Gelant.
Gelant, 30, has not featured in the Green and Gold since South Africa’s loss to Australia in Adelaide in August 2022.
He has 11 Test caps, including featuring in the victorious 2019 World Cup campaign.
Le Roux, in contrast, played the last of his 101 Tests against New Zealand at Kingspark, in Durban, in September last year.
Both remain mainstays on their respective franchise teams, attracting vitriolic criticism from ignorant pundits.
Gelant, nicknamed ‘Boogie’ (a derivative of Boogeyman), has come in for some ballistic blasts from ‘keyboard warriors’.
These virulent opines have raised the ire of Stormers Director of Rugby John Dobson.
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“We take a lot of heat about Boogie [Gelant],” Dobson said in a media scrum after the Stormers’ scrappy 33-14 win over Edinburgh in their Round 14 United Rugby Championship clash in Cape Town at the weekend.
“If you really understand what he brings, it’s one of the best rugby brains around.
“We see Warrick’s mistakes, don’t we?
“But his positional play, his bravery and his input into the game.
The Stormers boss said he often, in the coaches’ box, he ‘pleads’ for something not to go wrong.
The stuff that really matters for Dobson is Gelant’s composure and organisation in the backfield, especially in an Edinburgh match dominated by contestable kicking.
“Eighty percent of what he brings is unseen,” Dobson explained.
“He’s controlling things in the backfield, making decisions, putting people in the right places.
“Obviously, he is remembered for what happened at Kings Park,” Dobson said of a lackadaisical attempt at dotting the ball down, which resulted in a try for the Sharks in a particularly heartbreaking loss for the Stormers.
“He was really good tonight [Saturday] in tricky conditions,” the Stormers boss said of the past weekend’s win over a tough Scottish outfit.
“The way he worked with Gaza [Damian Willemse] and Zasi [Leolin Zas] in dealing with those contestables was excellent.”
Dobson admitted frustration at the relentless criticism Gelant receives from outside.
“Hopefully, people will give him a bit of breathing space.
“I don’t understand. Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu] is a national treasure. People, the keyboard warriors, have been destroying him.
“Boogie gets what amounts to hatred, and he brings a lot to the team.
“I don’t think that’s fair on a player who gives so much.”
“It’s so important for us to have players of international level,” Dobson said.
“Guys like Warrick, Ruhan [Nel], Sinatra [Seabelo Senatla], Evan Roos, Neethling [Fouché] are really valuable and you build your team around them.
“The Springbok demands are extensive now.
“Boogie is out there every week, playing big minutes. That counts for a lot, especially in a season like this.
“Hopefully, people will give him a bit of breathing space now.
“I love him as a player.”
@JanDKrugby
@rugby365com
