Ken Borland

With the Bulls now almost certainly out of playoffs contention, coach John Mitchell has the opportunity to work on developing players for next year’s SuperRugby campaign and he has one such future star available in scrumhalf Embrose Papier.

While the 21-year-old has been the Bulls’ third-choice scrumhalf for most of the year behind Ivan van Zyl and Andre Warner, national coach Rassie Erasmus showed how much faith he has in the Clanwilliam product’s talent by fast-tracking him into the Springbok set-up.

For Papier, the challenge is now to stay there and ensure he is on the plane to Japan next year for the World Cup. The more SuperRugby the lightning-quick halfback plays between now and then, the better.

“It would be very nice to go to the World Cup next year, that’s every player’s dream. I had a few chances in SuperRugby this year against New Zealand sides, I could express myself, but you learn a lot in SuperRugby too and hopefully that will help get me there to the World Cup. I learnt a lot in the pre-season with John Mitchell as well.

“I was very motivated to get into the Springbok team but it was still a really good surprise. Playing there has made me even more hungry. I made my debut coming on at wing and coach Sticks [Mzwandile Stick] said I must just use every second. I had a few nice runs against Wales and then it was quite wet against England but I feel that I used my chances,” Papier said.

Papier is also grateful to his Bulls U21 coach David Manuel for helping to hone the kicking game that is such a vital part of any scrumhalf’s armoury these days.

“My dad says I definitely need to work on my kicking game and I guess every player has his things he has to work on. I learnt a lot in my U21 year about when to kick and when to run from coach David. But my speed I’ve had from when I was small, I did athletics at school, I always ran.

“I started playing rugby at primary school at Lambert’s Bay and Darling, the community are big there with rugby and I went from touch rugby. Francois Hougaard and Dan Carter were my heroes growing up. I am short but I’m not small, I gym hard. I’m 80kg now but I don’t want to lose speed so I won’t go over 90kg,” Papier said.

https://citizen.co.za/sport/south-africa-sport/sa-rugby-sport/super-rugby/1970759/young-embrose-papier-has-a-world-cup-dream/

Former All Blacks and Lions coach John Mitchell says a continued emphasis on immediate results and resources not being dedicated towards developing coaches will mean South African Super Rugby franchises will continue to struggle.

The Bulls and Stormers are both looking for new head coaches for Super Rugby, the Sharks are restructuring their coaching staff and the Southern Kings are yet to appoint their leading man.

“It is going to be a serious worry if those franchises make emotional appointments. They need to look at due process and appoint a group of coaches, not just make a one-man appointment.

“It’s a really grave concern in our industry, we’re the only sport where a player can become head coach two years after he has finished playing. Coaching is about experience and wisdom and there are a lot of fantastic minds around. But it’s scary how results-based everything is. These organisations don’t realise that many of them are in a development phase and that takes more than 18 months.

“There’s also a lack of resources, time and money spent on coaches. A lot of them aren’t ready for Super Rugby level and I don’t believe in the whole system at the moment, there needs to be a change in mindset, we need to find ways to get smarter. Rugby has become a game of transition, it’s about how quickly you re-form on attack or defence, it’s about building pressure with the ball and moving it into space, not over-working by trying to bash it through the gain-line all the time,” Mitchell said at a Powerade launch for their new ION4 sports drink.

New Zealand’s 2003 World Cup coach has been linked with the coaching jobs at both the Stormers and Sharks, but he said that although he still loved coaching, a full-time post was not his desire at the moment.

“I’m really enjoying being a businessman at the moment, I’ve been given a great opportunity, and I’ve done 20 years of coaching all around the world. I’m at peace with what I’m doing and I’ve actually learnt a lot being on the outside, looking in.

“I turned down the Stormers, although I could really work with Gert Smal [Director of Rugby], but I didn’t want to come in on top of another coaching group and I wasn’t keen on commuting. The Sharks could have asked me a long time ago and they need to be accountable for the last two tenures.

“A coaching job has to be right for me and neither of those are at the moment. This time I will coach on my own terms, with the right people, I want to play a part rather than be the focal point. I’m 51, so I’m still young in coaching terms and I have a lot to offer. I love coaching, it will never leave me, but I believe I can share and serve the game in other ways at the moment. Being a consultant coach is still an option, but it needs to be the right fit and frequency, not full-time,” Mitchell said.

Lawrence Mahatlane is the new man tasked with the vital job of developing the best U19 talent in the country and he firmly believes that making those youngsters more self-aware will be the key to them succeeding at senior level, when the pressure on them becomes really serious.

It’s a fact of biology that the age-groups Mahatlane are dealing with can be almost too self-aware, self-conscious and unassured, but the 37-year-old is experienced in handling youngsters and he believes that giving them confidence in their techniques will provide them with great security out on the field.

“My job is to get them ready, mentally as much as anything, for senior cricket. It’s about how they adapt to match situations and we need to accelerate the process of their up-skilling. It’s all linked in to their self-awareness. Are they comfortable with their own technique?

“Technical matters can create doubt – thinking about your head falling over or your hands not going through the ball while you’re batting is not ideal. If you’re worrying about your technique, worried about where your toes are pointing when someone as fast as Dale Steyn is running in to bowl at you, then you’re in a lot of trouble.

“A player is going to run into a hundred coaches through his career and if he’s not self-aware, he will struggle emotionally. You need to understand your technique and grow with it. The game is a lot more about the mental aspect higher up and the youngsters need to be able to survive the heat.

“So that’s why I had all my squad fill in questionnaires about how they see their own games. By writing it down, they become more self-aware and then we have video analysis to see if they are actually doing it – it’s a different thing doing it under pressure in the middle,” Mahatlane explained.

Mahatlane’s method forces the youngsters into honing their techniques so they become second-nature.

“When you first start driving a car, you have to work really hard on using the clutch correctly and that’s your focus. But after a while you just do it naturally and it’s the same with cricket. You must deal with the technical issues in the winter so that you don’t even have to think about it when you’re in a match.”

The former Highveld Lions assistant coach faces the daunting task of replacing Ray Jennings straight after the former senior national coach won the ICC U19 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates in March, with some critics chanting the usual insulting allegations of political expediency and affirmative action.

But to be fair, Jennings had been at the helm of the U19s for 10 years and was always going to leave sooner rather than later. Nevertheless, many feel that Mahatlane has been given a hospital pass.

“I don’t see it as daunting, I see it as exciting. At this age-group, every year there is change and growth and if players are going to perform at such a young age, then they need to be mentored better and for longer,” the popular radio commentator said.

Although he was a talented player himself, the St Martins and St Stithians educated Mahatlane knew his future was in coaching. He first worked with the SA U19s in 2002 as the assistant coach and the next year, he was in charge as the team won the Junior Commonwealth Games title, and he also worked under current Proteas coach Russell Domingo in the 2004 Junior World Cup in Bangladesh.

He would then leave the juniors and take up the position of Gauteng Strikers coach, leading them to the three-day title in 2006/7 and the limited-overs crown the following season. Promotion to the Highveld Lions coaching staff followed, before he took a break from coaching in 2011 and began working as a cricket commentator.

Mahatlane is adopting a long-term view with the national U19s, with his focus being the 2016 Junior World Cup in Bangladesh.

“At this age-group, every year there is change and growth, different individuals putting their hands up. There are only three players eligible from the World Cup-winning squad, so the rest are guys that just missed out or boys that have newly become eligible. Which makes it quite a challenge.

“I’ve planned the process of how best to prepare for 2016 in Bangladesh, we need to get ourselves ready, mentally as much as anything. We need to accelerate the process of getting these players up-skilled and there are three tiers of players involved – those who are in matric now, those already at varsity and the ones with 18 months still to go in the U19 age-group.

“It’s not even just about cricket – the guys have to get used to being forced to make a three-hour drive from their hotel to the cricket ground, the sound of all the hooters, the smells of the sub-continent; they cannot be shocked when they arrive at the World Cup,” Mahatlane said.