Hollywood’s Oscar event with all its fanfare and trumped up actors and actresses was a spectacle to behold. It was the first time that the event was held at the new Hollywood theatre. 

I am almost convinced that the South African rugby administrators could well walk away with an Oscar for their comical performances over the last year. If they keep up the pace of blundering failures they will be able to release a new version of the Jim Carey classic, Dumb and Dumber.

The appointment of Accenture to identify the new strategic direction of South African rugby is a bold step. I am positive that the recommendations will be professional, economically viable and embrace the transformation efforts that are at the centre of all recommendations on South African sport.

I doubt that they will address some of the real reasons for the “climate of chaos” that appears to linger in the halls of rugby officialdom. I remember several journalists calling for the rugby bosses to publish their strategic intent in order to clear up the transformation issue and to provide a clear direction to the rugby public. That was a year ago and we have gone absolutely nowhere. 

I challenge SARFU to publish its strategic direction so that the man in the street can decide if there is any hope. I chose a small sample of key indicators to measure the performance of the rugby officials in South Africa over the last year. I will measure their performance on a scale of 1 to 5; anything below 2 will indicate that there is a crisis in South African rugby.

The criteria are:

Professional Leadership and Decision Making
Clear Economic Objectives
Strategic Brand Management
Resource Management
Performance Indicators

Professional Leadership and Decision Making – 2
The bare facts are there for all to see; I have still not seen a published strategy for South African rugby. From the Supporters Club to the structure of the Super 12 Franchises there has been a complete break down in communication and direction. We have recently learnt that the Supporters Club Franchises, except for London will not be renewed. All those people that have put in the effort to build the Springbok support around the world are to be left high and dry. 

The make up of the Super 12 Franchises and the appointment of coaches has become a huge embarrassment. It is a minor consolation that only John Connolly and Mark Ella have come out and slammed the South African rugby establishment. Last weekend saw the Cats playing in Bloemfontein and there was not a single representative from the Free State in the team. A team that played in last years Currie Cup semi final and a Province that boasts the best rugby school in South Africa.

If transformation is the objective, why are players of the caliber of Eugene Meyer and Adrian Jacobs being underutilized by a coach, whose record is not what I would call an example of professionalism? How is it possible that the coaches whose appointment is approved by SARFU can fail to build on the successes of a team like the Falcons? I am amused at the outbursts of the SARFU President who lambastes the players on a frequent basis, whilst providing the rugby public with no firm commitment on what transformation is and how it will be achieved.

Clear Economic Objectives – 3
The fiscal performance of SARFU looks good on paper; a good profit was recorded for the last fiscal year. My question is this, where is the money going to? I would like to see a financial report including the salaries of key officials and their economic contribution to the growth of South African rugby. I might be dreaming here, but you get what you measure. South African rugby has the luxury of a dual structure which appears to be resulting in dual responsibilities and dual payrolls.

Strategic Brand Management – 2
The Springbok is a powerful brand and I can assure readers that the primary recommendation from Accenture will be the centralization of brand control. One only has to look at the Sharks to see the potential of effective brand management. The Springboks are a popular commodity and they will fill Twickenham every year, until the team results are so bad that England closes the door. Try and purchase an item from the SARFU website, good luck because it is quicker to fly to South Africa and get it yourself. SARFU should set itself a target based on a comparable brand like the English rugby team and measure its revenue against that.

Resource Management – 1
On two occasions last year there were players that had to deal with the embarrassment of having their names read out incorrectly at the announcement of a Springbok squad. I am sure that there is no other rugby nation in the top 5 with such a record. The transformation goals appear flawed when a player like Kennedy Tsimba is not playing Super 12 rugby. If the Bulls coach can be reappointed, then the Department of Home Affairs can get Tsimba a South African passport.

Last year the South African management team was so large that it took two pages of the program that was published for the England game. The impact of the Australians has been so effective that our backs are at their worst ever. I leave this point with the words of Boela Vermaak from Rapport. “Stuur vir Less Kiss en Tim Lane met die eerste beskikbare Qantas-vlug huis toe. Onder hulle het Bok-agterspelers binne skaars 'n jaar wêreldrugby se swakste hanteerders en skoppers en verdedigers en aanvallers geword.” English Version: “Send Less Kiss and Tim Lane home on the first available Quantas flight. Under them the Bok backs have in just under a year become the worst handlers, kickers, defenders and attackers in world rugby.”

Nine coaches in ten years, need I say more.

Performance Indicators – 0
I do not know of any, please can somebody shed the light on this one? If there are any they do not relate to the results on the field. I was tempted to score this 1 because of the emergence of several players like Conrad Jantjes and Adrian Jacobs, but the poor quality of rugby in the Vodacom Cup and the erosion of club rugby are so visible that it merits a 0. Those of you familiar with schools rugby know that South Africa has some of the best players and schools in the world, yet we are thumped by the Kiwi U19’s.
In a recent article, Harry Viljoen encouraged the new coach amongst other things to do the following.

Courtesy of an article by Boela Vermaak in Rapport
1. Keep the Australian involvement of Tim Lane and Less Kiss
2. Keep the majority of the Springbok Management team, each one of them gives extra value to the Springboks
3. Keep Bob Skinstad as captain, he is a wonderful player and is the right man to lead the Springboks at the World Cup.

I wonder if Harry realises that you cannot cry over spilt milk.

I encourage any readers to add to the debate around the performance of the rugby administrators, please feel free to comment on my rankings and send me more details of what is being done to address these.

des@rugbyforum.co.za

Join the SARUGBY news and discussion group for the fastest sarugby news and the most intense debates around the South African game. Send a blank email to sarugby-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

The South African sides were back in action after a weekend off from Super 12 humiliation, unfortunately the rest period did not improve results and only one victory was recorded. The semi-finals are now beyond the reach of South Africa, for the first time since the inception of the competition! First the Australians were shut out in 1998 and the Kiwis followed suit last year, both bounced back stronger and better.

The Sharks finally produced a win after 5 defeats in a row, with that launching the Kevin Putt era with a bang. The first half was in Shark vernacular a feeding frenzy with some fast paced, highly attractive rugby on the menu. Forwards combined with backs and slick passing from Herkie Kruger made it look easy as they swamped the Blues with unexpected running rugby. It was quite beautiful to watch but the high-octane rugby did not last and a second half of errors and visibly tired forwards left the Durban boys clinging to their first win of the season, a well-deserved one.

The Reds dealt the Stormers another cruel blow with a 3-point defeat, it was an extremely entertaining match characterized by excellent running rugby of high quality. The Stormers missed too many opportunities at goal and this inevitably cost them the match. The problem with possession seem to continue and if they can secure more than the scraps they have become use to the score lines will reflect victories and not last gasp defeats. An indifferent performance from Paul Honiss, the referee who sent two Stormers players to the sin-bin has irked many a South African rugby supporter. The referee is a vital cog in a match and one can expect, no less demand a fair amount of competence from an official handsomely paid to do an unforgiving job. Mr Honiss was very poor.

The Cats did not look like a side capable of winning and although there were a few good performances from individuals, the team lacks the ability to challenge the rest of the field. The stand out player was André Pretorius, the young flyhalf and Sevens player extraordinaire. It is not yet the time or the place to rant and rave him into a Springbok no 10 jumper but he is improving tremendously with every outing. Seven’s players find the 15 man code very constrictive for their phenomenal array of skills but only from the first phase, subsequent phases see the defence spreading out like in Rugby League and then these skills come to enormous use. What the young Pretorius needs is game time to get the “feel” of the game, well done Frans Ludeke, André’s selection has been one of your few successes thus far.

The Bulls are plodding ahead and admitted they played against title contenders the Crusaders with very little hope of winning in Christchurch, the question begs do they ever have any hope of winning?

The coming weekend is another tough round for the local sides when is it not? The Stormers play the Crusaders in their fortress in Christchurch and the weather in New Zealand seem to be turning and that is always a factor. The Sharks take on the Chiefs and Kevin Putt will hope to produce more of the same brand of rugby for a longer period against Deon Muir’s side. The Sharks will not however surprise the Chiefs as easily they did the Blues and a full 80-minute performance will be required for victory. The Bulls are losing to the Reds and the Cats to the Blues.

Any salvation in sight? Well with the Sharks first victory will come a lot of confidence, the Stormers are maintaining high standards and since the Springbok team will mostly comprise of players from these two franchises things can only get better. Rudolf Straeuli is optimistic (well, he has to be!) and with the crocks returning in good time with enough recuperation and small miracles this year’s Springbok class may just contain exactly that, class.

mark@rugbyforum.co.za

Rugby Forum Super 12 XV

1. Bill Young (Brumbies)
2. Keven Mealamu (Chiefs)
3. Greg Somerville (Crusaders)
4. Justin Harrison (Brumbies)
5. Chris Jack (Crusaders)
6. George Smith (Brumbies)
7. Owen Finnegan (Brumbies)
8. Deon Muir (Chiefs)
9. George Gregan (Brumbies)
10. Tony Brown (Highlanders)
11. Pieter Rossouw (Stormers)
12. Aaron Mauger (Crusaders)
13. Stirling Mortlock (Brumbies)
14. Ben Tune (Reds)
15. Matt Rogers (Waratahs)

I suppose you can say I am a bit old school. I expect the players to go onto the field expecting to play a full game.      Kevin Putt

I have been a huge admirer of South African rugby and its great teams and players, but I have never seen them so devoid of attacking ambition.     Lawrence Dallaglio

Don't ask me about emotions in the Welsh dressing room. I'm someone who cries when he watches 'Little House on the Prairie'.      Bob Norster

I have over a very long period of time kept track of happenings on and off the rugby field and have a huge amount of stats regarding referees influence in games and decisions at crucial times. I cannot e-mail you all I have but will give you just a few pointers to chew on;

To me these stats shows beyond all doubt that there is a cloud of suspicion when it comes to certain referees and it is my honest hope that someone in charge of this forum will read and bring this under the attention of appropriate people - although I doubt this as the South African authorities (SARFU) seems to have this spineless attitude to stand up for its players and this attitude towards Australia and NZ of "Thank you so much that you give us the opportunity to compete with you guys in this Super12 and Tri-Nations Competitions. Hell, we apologise for living" 

This is facts not fiction and if someone does not believe me, I challenge you to go to the record books (if you can find them or kept track of happenings) and check for yourself. I'm a passionate rugby supporter and watch tests/games with a Hawke's eye. Look besides everything else, there is no doubt that there is a huge inconsistency amongst the refs applying the rules. 

The game Stormers vs Reds was the latest. Lets look at one example: Barry getting 10 minutes in the bin for clearly trying to roll over the opponent in an attempt to prevent the try! no ways was there any attempt from him to high tackle or whatever crap Honis Mr bounis came up with! How many times in other games players come down with their knees into players (sometimes on their backs - very dangerous) that ALREADY scored the try (about 5 seconds ago) not to try and prevent the try but clearly to cause injury to the try scorer but this do not bring a penalty? 

Stats indicates the poor and hapless performances of the South African sides in the present Super 12 and one can look at various reasons for this - reasons like inexperienced coaches, top management not working together and players not even doing the basic things correctly like catching a ball. 

In the first 6 seasons of the Super 12, South African teams only won 37% from 200 matches. Under certain refs only 20%, under a certain 5 refs NONE! 2 from 13 Super12 matches (2000 Season) with Kiwi refs after the Springboks beat the All Blacks in the 1999 RWC for the 3rd place play-off? 

Amazingly after March 1999, in which THAT e-mail meant for ARU send by NZRFU "to teach the Japies a lesson" accidentally reached the SARFU's computers, then suddenly the South African teams success rate shot up to 39% - an improvement of 27% in comparison to the previous year!(1998) 

After the Super 12 the Tri-Nations follows. In 6 seasons of the Tri-Nations, The Springboks only won 9 tests - normally the last two of the four played against Aus and NZ. But in 1998 The Springboks won the Tri-Nations Competition but interesting is the fact that 2 N/H refs was involved. This caused a huge outcry from the Kiwis! Why? 

Guys I can go on and on and on. I have plenty such stats and the refs mentioned in the pervious postings like Steve Walsh, Honis (Bonus tries), Wayne Erickson, I have even more stats.

Wayne Erickson: Before that March 1999 e-mail, SA teams could not win against any NZ team with him in charge, but after that e-mail the victory rate shot up to 56% - same ref we talking about?

Andrew Cole: Before that March 1999 e-mail, SA teams won only 58% with him in charge but after that e-mail the victory rate shot up to 83% - same ref in charge? 

Stuart Dickinson: Before that March 1999 e-mail, SA teams won only 22% with him in charge but after that e-mail the victory rate shot up to 31% - same ref in charge? 

Paddy O'Brien: Before that March 1999 e-mail, SA teams won only 36% with him in charge but after that e-mail the victory rate shot up to 50% - same ref in charge? 

With such a sudden increase in success rate for the South African sides, it proofs the problem was the refs and not so much bad coaching or bad play from the SA teams! 

We are now back to square one - is this maybe the result of refs causing huge confusion with the SA players as every time they run on the field they wonder what is the next surprise the ref is going to come up with?  

I'll leave it there guys. Decide for yourself. 

Look not all of us are sleeping. Some of us are wide awake and keep track of what's happening on the field of play. Cannot say this of the SARFU officials! Seems they get to much pay! High time for N/H refs to control games in S/H and visa versa - as the IRB is so adamant about promoting the game world wide, lets have refs touring the world so we have consistency all over the world. Don't tell me the N/H refs ain't up to standard, well then they should not be allowed to control games in the RWC AT ALL? 

We should start some kind of petition to show our unhappiness with the state of affairs and mail to SARFU. 

Any suggestions guys? 

Cheers
Frans

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