Coaching at international level is more and more about compromise, it seems. The international season is almost upon us and half of Jake White’s Springbok squad is crocked. It is now easy to understand why the national coach chose 45 players for his training camp in Bloemfontein.
At the time of the announcement there were some contentious omissions, but if White’s period in charge tells us anything it is that everyone’s chance will come eventually. After all, there was a time when White would not countenance the name of Gary Botha, but the Bull’s hooker got there in the end. Impossible as it may seem now, Schalk Brits and Luke Watson will be part of the mix one day.
In the short term, however, White’s task is to mix and match a team to represent South Africa for a fixture against a World XV at Ellis Park on June 3. The attrition of the Super 14 means that he simply cannot choose his best team, even if he wanted to. That means no place for Os du Randt, CJ van der Linde, Bakkies Botha, Andre Pretorius or Bryan Habana. One third of the team, in fact.
It could be worse. White is at least fortunate that no South African side made it through to the Super 14 final this weekend. Imagine the sleepless nights that All Black coach Graham Henry has to endure, waiting for the dust to settle on the Crusaders against the Hurricanes in Christchurch. He could easily lose his captain, Richie McCaw, his best player, Dan Carter, and a host of other integral members of the national squad to injury.
Chances are that he won’t. Hard fought as the contest is certain to be, there is unlikely to be the kind of underlying mean-spirited physicality familiar in South African derbies. New Zealand sides are every bit as parochial as our own, but when push comes to shove they tend to want to play, rather than fight.
The Crusaders have made a super rugby career out of that philosophy. The way they dismantled the Bulls, first at fortress Loftus in log play, then at Jade Stadium in the semifinal, was an object lesson in keeping your eye on the ball.
Like all the best ideas, the Crusaders triumphed with simplicity. They refused to engage with the Bulls forwards and chose to kick the ball back over their advancing heads. It was like an elaborate game of piggy in the middle, with Victor Matfield and his cohorts forced to run back and forth between the two 22s, vainly trying to grasp an oval projectile.
The Hurricanes will pose a few more difficult questions to the Crusaders’ brains trust in the final. They are less dependent on their forwards and almost as adept as their hosts in sweeping the ball wide from turnovers. But as a franchise they have never been this far before, not even when they had the remarkable Christian Cullen at fullback and Jonah Lomu on the left wing.
Compare that to the Crusaders, who are contesting their eighth final, and it adds up to a bridge too far for the Hurricanes. Strange to relate, there’s a chance that the stadium will not be full for the competition’s climax. Can it be that the people of Christchurch have become blasé with the notion of supporting a virtually unbeatable team?
In retrospect, it is even more bizarre than it appeared at the time that the Crusaders’ only defeat of the season should come at the hands of the Stormers in Cape Town. Kobus van der Merwe’s men had been a directionless rabble for most of the year, yet they raised their game when it didn’t matter.
If something is very right in Christchurch, it is very wrong at Newlands. The Stormers have a plethora of Springboks in their ranks, yet they seemed to lack motivation. That may explain why Jean de Villiers, the one true genius in South African rugby today, was shifted to the wing to camouflage the fact that he had forgotten how to tackle.
Which brings us back to the trials and tribulations of Jake White. The coach knows that there are certain players who, if fit, must be chosen. De Villiers is one, Schalk Burger another. For no matter how they may have performed for the Stormers, the fact is that they are head and shoulders above their understudies at international level.
Since taking over the job from Rudolf Straeuli two years ago, White has constantly reiterated the importance of continuity. That’s why he cares little for form if it is shown by players outside his defined group. Better the devil you know is his apparent motto. So he will forgive the wastrels and mould a winning side once more. Just wait and see.