New South African Rugby Football Union president Brian van Rooyen has some fractious times ahead, but it will no doubt help his peace of mind to be able to actually watch some rugby when he arrives at Outeniqua Park in George on Friday for the second leg of the IRB International Sevens series.
South Africa won the opening leg in Dubai last week and will thus be favourites to make it two in row. Given that it may also be the last time that Chester Williams takes charge of the team his youthful charges owe him another big performance.
Williams was one of four names on a shortlist for the Springbok coaching job announced by Van Rooyen on Wednesday. The others are André Markgraaff, Heyneke Meyer and Dumisani Mhani.
Given the manner of his departure from the job first time around the only thing more unlikely than the appointment of Markgraaff would be if Geo Cronje were handed the captaincy at the same time.
Meyer has also been there and done that with the Boks, albeit in an assistant capacity, and his two years of success with the Blue Bulls should mark the start of a successful provincial career, not its conclusion.
Border coach Mhani has no serious track record and neither, at least in 15-man rugby, has Williams, who was always destined to take a break after the George leg of the Sevens in order to begin his assistant coaching role under Tim Lane at the Cats.Â
It would in some ways be a pity if Williams were fast-tracked into the Springbok coaching job and no one is more keenly aware than he that he has much to learn. Hitherto he has approached his chosen profession with great respect, recognising that you can’t make a pearl without a bit of grit somewhere along the line.
Before the Sevens Series began he said: ‘We are tired of just competing and intend to be the form team for the next series. In the first year as coach my main objective was to get among the top three Sevens teams in the world. Last year I wanted to start winning tournaments and, for the coming series, we want to challenge New Zealand as champions.â€
That may have sounded like false bluster two weeks ago, but after beating England, Fiji and New Zealand on the way to victory in Dubai, Williams’s team must now be taken seriously.
If Springbok rugby is ever to get back to the top of the tree the chances are it will have to pay a good deal more attention to Sevens rugby. Williams has produced a host of talented players during his tenure and it would be nice to think that one day a Springbok side would step around a defence instead of trying to run through it.