For now, Hoskins just wants to talk about the good times
South African rugby followers are going to hear more from outgoing president Oregan Hoskins when the time is right, he said, but for now he wants to dwell on the positives of his 10-year term which ended when he stood down earlier this month.
‘I have always been truthful and I will talk, but it’s just a question of timing. There are legal issues that mean I can’t say anything now, but once I am not beholden to anyone then I will speak,” Hoskins told Saturday Citizen.
“You can never please everybody as president, but there are some great memories, from being the first person of colour to become president, spending a weekend in Bloemfontein with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, being a director of the Rugby World Cup and living in the houses of friends all over South Africa, rather than staying in hotels. It was an opportunity to get to know South Africans of all colours and creeds and there are unbelievable memories,” Hoskins said.
Transformation and the structure of the game are two issues still bedevilling South African rugby, with Hoskins saying progress had been made in the former.
“I’ve seen transformation happen at all levels, I’ve seen it in the supporters and it makes me so proud, that was a victory for me. Ten years ago there were lots of questions about the national team, but now it is less of a big issue. The major stakeholders, government and sponsors need to jointly govern transformation.
“There’s no doubt the structure of South African rugby is totally flawed and we are still a long way off getting it right. Many of our efforts don’t grow because of the poor system and until there is total equity ownership of all rugby entities from clubs to franchises, it’s going to be very difficult to satisfy the political demands rugby faces,” Hoskins said.
Tendai Mtawarira will equal Os du Randt’s record for the most capped Springbok prop on Saturday in Argentina, but Hoskins remembers him in tears in his house in 2009 when his Test career was still at a fledgling stage.
“I’ll never forget a young Beast walking into my house in Westville in tears because Makhenkesi Stofile had phoned and said he can’t play for the Springboks anymore because he wasn’t a South African citizen. Beast was broken and I made it my duty to make sure he played for the Springboks. I got to meet Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, then at Home Affairs, and pleaded with her and she gave Beast citizenship there and then, so he became a Springbok again,” Hoskins recalled.
Helping to bring stability in the Springbok coaching position will also be a lasting legacy of Hoskins’.
Helping to grow rugby in Africa will be Hoskins’ focus in the game for the time being, with a shipment of kit on its way to the Democratic Republic of the Congo thanks to his efforts already.