If Joel Stransky had known Springbok coach Andre Markgraaff was going to quit, maybe he would have stayed in South Africa, but now he’s found happiness and form in England
RUGBY:Mick Cleary
YOU gauge a man’s true fortune not by examining his bank balance but by peering into his soul. Last year, Joel Stransky, the much-feted, well-rewarded, match- winning hero of South Africa’s World Cup campaign, was bankrupt in spirit. It was not that the selectors had lost faith in him; it was that he had lost faith in them and all that they stood for.
”I was completely disillusioned with the whole national set-up,” says Stransky. ”All the players were aware of the problems within. It’s since been proved that it wasn’t a healthy environment. For me, it was time to either pack it all in or move on.”
Stransky moved on. He signed for Leicester, made his debut in mid-January and has since scored more than 160 points. He is still the linchpin of Leicester’s bid to land the cup, the club having crashed so comprehensively from grace in the league last week at Bath. But it might have been so different.
The man largely responsible for Stransky’s disenchantment was Andre Markgraaff, the coach forced to resign two months ago after making racist remarks about ”kaffirs”.”If I’d known the coach was going to be sacked, then maybe I would have stayed,” says Stransky. ”But it has worked out brilliantly here. My family and I are very content and I wouldn’t want to change it now.”
For Stransky, the sun quickly dimmed across the rugby landscape of the Mandela-Pienaar rainbow nation. Just 12 months after hitting the extra-time drop goal which won the World Cup for the Springboks, Stransky found himself axed from the side by Markgraaff. But there is far more to Stransky’s story than mere pique over selection.
”There was a newspaper story that I had a pregnant schoolgirl mistress,” says Stransky. ”It was a complete fabrication. To this day, I don’t know where it came from.
”My wife was in hospital after just giving birth to our first child. A reporter sneaked into the ward and accosted her with this story. It was all very distressing. It was a total lie yet the coach obviously didn’t believe me because he questioned me about it.
”I was told later that the scandal was the reason I was left out of the winter tour party. I knew then that as long as he was coach, I couldn’t play for the side.
”It wasn’t just my problems which bothered me. I’d been injured so I hadn’t expected to make the tour. It was more than that. Markgraaff lied and bullshitted us all.
”I was fed up, too, that we seemed to be turning the clock back 20 years. Guys who had done so much to improve our image at the World Cup were removed from office. It was as if you’d built up a million-dollar corporation and then just let it go bust. It was a huge step backwards.”
Stransky is reluctant to be drawn into outright condemnation of men such as Louis Luyt, the self-styled supremo of South African rugby. It doesn’t take much guesswork, though, to figure that Stransky, an English-speaking South African liberal, is not a fully paid-up member of the harsh old Afrikaaner ethos.
Stransky, aged 29, has two more years to run on his Leicester contract. There is, however, a release clause should he be recalled to the Springbok colours for the series with the Lions. A 26-man squad will be announced on June 2. Will he be in it?
”He’s a contender,” says Carel du Plessis, Markgraaff’s successor. ”Of course, it’s difficult to assess from afar. Next week, we’re due to receive video tapes of his games. Joel obviously has the temperament and skills, but to be fair to the present squad, they’re playing at a higher pace and intensity in the Super 12.”
As Leicester coach, Bob Dywer’s view is not the most impartial, but as a World Cup- winning coach himself with Australia, his insights are more penetrative than most.
”There are only two complete fly-halves in the world at the moment,” says Dwyer. ”Andrew Mehrtens of New Zealand is one of them, Joel is the other. We haven’t yet got the full worth of Joel at Leicester simply because our players are only just dipping their toe into professionalism, whereas Joel was a professional in the amateur era.
”By that, I mean his preparation is meticulous. He’ll get the three-quarters to test the wind in different corners during the warm-up, check the run of the ball on the grass, assess the softness of the ball on the bounce – nothing is left to chance.
”The South Africans currently fancy Henry Honiball, who is part fly-half, part centre. I’d play Stransky. If he does play against the Lions, he’ll be at least as good as the bloke he marks.”
The Dwyer tongue almost pierced his cheek with that last remark. The Lions would clone a British grandmother to get a fly- half of Stransky’s worth. Stransky is averaging more than 16 points a match, has a 75% success rate with penalty kicks and was almost wholly responsible for Leicester at Gloucester in the Pilkington Cup semi- final. He almost repeated the trick last week only for Gloucester to snatch the League game deep into injury time.
It was the all-round play of Stransky that night which convinced many that he is proving the best of all the overseas buys. He made four lacerating breaks, three of which led directly to tries. That the two men who flank him in Leicester’s midfield, Austin Healey and Will Greenwood, will be on the British Lions flight to South Africa is no coincidence. Those who curl the top lip at the influx of overseas players might ponder that.
”Overseas players always draw criticism,” says Stransky. ”In the early Nineties, I played two seasons in Italy alongside Campo, Tim Gavin, Jason Little and other foreigners. At that time, Italy couldn’t beat France’s second team. Now they are on the verge of entry to the Five Nations and beat France a week after they had won the Grand Slam. Is that just mere chance, or did the overseas players raise standards?”
The English game, for all its new-found energy and brightness, still lags behind its southern hemisphere cousin. ”It’s much slower here,” says Stransky. ”But that’s no surprise. It took the Super 12 four years to sort itself out. This is year one for English rugby. The European Cup is a big move in the right direction.”
Stransky says there is nothing innately wrong with skill levels of players in these parts. ”But the teams themselves are inconsistent – good one week, poor the next,” he says. ”That’s why the Lions will find it tough. There are a lot of guys in the party who play Second Division rugby. And that itinerary, man, it’s murderous.”
Stransky has fewer doubts, though, about the choice of captain, his Leicester team- mate Martin Johnson. ”Ideally, you’d want an experienced leader, used to pressure and a proven ambassador,” says Stransky. ”The Lions don’t have such a figure. If anyone can step into the role, Johnson can. He’s a fantastic player, sensible, logical and knows what to say and what not to say. He’s also a nice guy and, believe me, that’s half the battle.”
Stransky is unfussy, unshowy but devastatingly effective. He also is a nice guy. These days, he’s a much happier one, too.