Donald McRae : Rugby
As the French struggled to find the superlatives to describe their humiliation by the Springboks in the last match at the Parc de Princes stadium two weeks ago, Gary Teichmann couldn’t stop grinning.
He ran slowly around the edge of the field, his smile burnishing the gloom. The venerable Parc, for all its sadness, rose in a sweeping gesture of acclaim, almost as if it had decided that the best rugby it had ever seen had been saved for the very last. As the rapturous acclaim rolled down the steep concrete banks, the green and gold shirts seemed to shine even brighter.
After a year in which Teichmann has had to carry the trauma of a troubled rugby nation on his own shoulders, it was as if the fog had finally lifted from South Africa and spread to another country.
“It was just fantastic,” Teichmann murmurs with his customary charm, “an occasion which we’ll never forget.
“Just the fact that we played the last Test at the Parc was special, but the way we performed made it even more memorable. We defended well but we were probably even better when running with the ball. It was the best performance from any Springbok side I’ve been involved in, because, even in terms of taking all the opportunities that came our way, we never let up. And, sure, after the year we’ve had, it felt great to play so well.”
It says much for the determination and sheer resilience of Teichmann that, despite the surrounding chaos, he was one of the few Springboks to enhance his reputation during a traumatic winter. It is difficult to imagine any previous Springbok captain surviving a series loss to the Lions and two catastrophic away defeats to Australia and New Zealand.
But Teichmann’s huge-hearted leadership on the pitch, and his composure in the face of various political scandals, has offered a rare beacon of consistency. He has even managed to instil a measure of cool insight into the hysterical criticism of his players, insisting that the “crisis” has never stemmed from a lack of talent or desire.
“It’s not been an easy 18 months,” Teichmann sighs, remembering how last July he had the unenviable task of replacing Francois Pienaar as Springbok captain in the midst of New Zealand winning a series in South Africa for the first time. “We’ve lost some important matches and, when you go down at home to the All Blacks or the Lions, it hurts all the more.
“On top of that, as we all know, there’ve been problems off the field. All the negativity starts to affect you and sometimes it’s hard not to let it bring you down. Even if you just focus on the coaching situation it’s difficult not to be affected. It seems like we manage to find a new coach every six months … ”
He breaks off with a quiet laugh, reflecting more cheerfully on the past now that, in the wake of the disgraced Andre Markgraaff and the inexperienced Carel du Plessis, the highly accomplished Nick Mallett has at last given Teichmann the support he deserves. Apart from restoring their confidence, he has encouraged the Springboks to play an effervescent style of 15-man rugby.
Even more importantly, Mallett’s cohesive partnership with Teichmann should take South Africa through to the 1999 World Cup, thus providing the continuity that has lately appeared to be the sole preserve of New Zealand.
“Nick’s done really well,” Teichmann enthuses, “and it makes all the difference if your coaching and management are up to scratch. It takes so much off the captain’s shoulders and, as a player, you start enjoying the game again.
“To be honest, just before this tour I was shattered, as much mentally as physically. It wasn’t easy playing the Lions and then the Tri-Nations under a new coach [Du Plessis] and to have to start all over again seemed even more difficult. But the whole atmosphere changed quickly under Nick. We’re very positive now and, obviously, it’s much easier to have a happy tour when you’re winning.
“We’re now a much better side compared to the team that played the Lions. In the first two Tests [against the Lions] we only made a handful of opportunities. Now we’re creating an enormous number of chances.
“Nick’s whole philosophy is built around a simple aim: to create as many opportunities to score tries as possible. Sure, this means that we take a few risks but we’re always looking to score tries rather than penalties.”
Teichmann’s only regreat about the Fench match is that the win came so far from home.
“As wonderful as it was to win in Paris,” he suggests, “I’d really love us to hit that kind of form in South Africa. We’ve been hurt by some of the criticism. I sometimes get letters from guys who haven’t considered the whole scenario. They don’t assess our performance in the light of all the changes in coaching or the number of injuries we’ve had. They just hammer us over a specific defeat.
“I remember how one of the first letters I got really hit home. I just thought, `how can a guy sit down and write something like this?’ Look, we accept that we haven’t done well in terms of what South Africa expects from the Springboks but the reasons are complex. They often lie far beyond the players themselves.
“I think this is why the All Blacks are a little ahead of the rest of us right now. Their whole structure works for the players’ benefit. This hasn’t always been the case in South Africa but now it suddenly feels like we might be turning things around.”