By Brenden Nel.
@GalloImages.
Springbok assistant coach Mzwandile Stick has hit back at former Bok coach Jake White, who said in an online column the Bok camp was “no place to learn.”
Stick said afterwards he was disappointed with the remarks made by White, especially as the former coach had also experimented with teams a year out from the 2007 Rugby World Cup, which the Springboks won.
The fallout from the 19 changes to the match-23 and 14 to the starting line-up for the second test in Bloemfontein continued after SA Rugby’s Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus took exception to White’s quotes on Twitter and was also the subject of hostile tweets from former Springbok Schalk Burger Senior.
Stick, however, said he couldn’t understand why White would make the comments as he had done the same when he was coach.
“What I was disappointed at in his statement, is that someone who was in the same position as us and would do it his own way as well – he also used to rotate the teams. He also used to give people opportunities and that is part of life,” Stick said.
“If we are not going to test these ‘laaities’ now, when are we going to test them? For someone like him to make a comment like that in public?
“I’ve followed him when he was coaching the Springboks in those days and what he did for our country was very special – to go and win the World Cup. But once again, for me it is disappointing to have someone his age, who is more experienced in this business to go out and make comments like that.”
WALES WILL BE BRIMMING WITH CONFIDENCE
White made the comments in a column on the website Rugbypass where he said coach Jacques Nienaber had “missed a trick.”
“There’s an expectation that you win every time you play in South African colours and the margins in test rugby are incredibly small. What I’m expecting on Saturday is massive amounts of pressure that he didn’t need, “White wrote.
“I’m told his rationale for picking that second test team was because he wanted that group of players to know what it was like to win a series, he didn’t want them to just be playing a dead rubber in the third test. To answer that, I’d say I don’t think there should ever be a dead rubber test when you’re playing at home.
The job of a national coach is to win test matches. National coaches shouldn’t use tests to see if players are good enough, that what A-sides or training is for. I don’t know if Nienaber picked that team on his own, he may have discussed it with Rassie and others but you’re not a national coach to learn lessons. You learn that at age-grade or club level – I mean that sincerely – there’s a reason people go through a system to become a national coach.”
White said Wales would be boosted by the win in Bloemfontein, their first on South African soil.
“Nienaber could have won the series and now he’s created a real cauldron in Cape Town. It’s at sea level, and the Welsh will be boosted by the fact they’ve contested tests on the highveld. In my experience, the most successful Springbok coaches keep the best teams together. Nick Mallett, myself or Rassie Erasmus in 2019. It’s always been that way.
“Wales will come brimming with confidence. I’ve coached against them, and the one thing they don’t do is go away. I remember they lost the test by a point in Nelspruit, where if it wasn’t for a high tackle, they could have won it. Test matches against Wales have been close for some time. It was only a piece of Duane Vermeulen’s magic, where he popped a ball out the back to Fourie Du Preez at the 2015 Rugby World Cup that stopped the game from going belly up. The 2019 Rugby World Cup semifinal was a three-pointer, thanks to Francois Louw winning a key turnover.
“Going back to the selection, when Sir Gareth Edwards, one of the greatest players of all time, said it was a slap in the face, I can’t believe it wasn’t a real motivation for the Welsh team. For Saturday’s test, I see Nienaber has gone back to the team he thinks will serve him well. Six forwards on the bench, two backs. The biggest, heaviest side he can muster. Ahead of France, I don’t think there will be too much of a departure from what’s been working for them in the past few years.
“In fact, I think it’s obvious they are going do to exactly the same thing they did in Japan, but one of the things I’ve learnt as I’ve got older is that if you try to repeat the same feat again and again, it doesn’t work.”