Ken Borland

The International Rugby Board’s anti-doping regulations have put paid to the potential comeback of former Springbok captain Victor Matfield, the South African Rugby Union (Saru) admitted on Thursday.
New Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer was considering Matfield, a veteran of 110 tests and the driving force behind their powerful lineout, for the three-test series against England next month, despite the 35-year-old announcing his retirement after last year’s World Cup.
With the series happening in the middle of the SuperRugby season, Meyer has little chance to work with his team, which will feature several new faces following the retirement of long-time captain John Smit, injuries to flanks Schalk Burger and Juan Smith, and the migration of stalwarts such as scrumhalf Fourie du Preez, centre Jaque Fourie, utility forward Danie Rossouw and prop Gurthro Steenkamp to overseas clubs.
Meyer is also facing a dilemma over who to appoint as captain because the frontrunner, Burger, has been ruled out of the England series due to a knee injury. The former Bulls coach previously hinted that Matfield could return to steer the team through the transitional period.
But an IRB rule stating that a player who has announced his retirement may not play international rugby for six months after his comeback has ruled out Matfield’s return.
The regulation is used by the IRB to prevent players who have used banned substances from suddenly retiring and then returning to the game once the drug is out of their system.
“We have discussed the option, but the International Rugby Board’s regulations counted against us,” Saru chief executive Jurie Roux told Reuters on Thursday.
“We would be keen to use Victor’s outstanding knowledge and have not ruled out the option of using it in some other way in the future.”
Matfield is acknowledged as the foremost student of lineout play in the game and is currently employed as an analyst by broadcasters SuperSport.
“I did want to play an experienced side, but a lot of players are not available,” Meyer said on a BBC radio interview this week. “There’s a big concern about the lack of time we have to train together. That’s why it’s difficult to pick a side because there will be injuries after those derbies. It’s not an ideal situation but you can’t make excuses,” he said.

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer said in Pretoria on Thursday that he understood star centre Jaque Fourie’s reasons for making himself unavailable for the Springboks this year.

The 29-year-old Fourie, who has been capped 69 times for South Africa since 2003, announced on Wednesday that he was unavailable for the Springboks while he completes the second year of his contract with Japanese club Kobelco Steelers.

“I respect Jaque’s thoughts in not making himself available but it’s a pity because he’s close to being the best outside centre in the world and he was definitely an integral part of my plans. But it’s very important that the players I choose are focused on the South African cause and want to play for the Springboks. If there’s pressure from their overseas clubs, then I understand,” Meyer told reporters in Pretoria on Thursday.

The new Springbok coach added, however, that the door was not closed to Fourie to make a return to the Springboks ahead of the 2015 World Cup.

“I’d like to speak again with Jaque in two years time, because we’ll be going into our World Cup plans and I hope he can still be there then.”

Meyer, who had just completed the first of three planning camps with potential Springbok players, drawn from the Cheetahs and the Lions, said however that there was plenty of talent at his disposal to replace senior players who were not available this year.

“The absence of players like Jaque is great for the youngsters and even the more experienced guys – I’ve told the players that even if they’re 29 and haven’t yet played for the Springboks, that they still have a chance of being chosen. There were one or two players at this camp that I haven’t worked with before and I can see that they are great players. There’s enough depth in South African rugby,” Meyer said.

“I’ve had one-on-ones with every player and they know where they stand and I now understand their roles in their franchises and why they do certain things. I have much more insight into them, which is great, and they know exactly what I want.”

Former Blue Bulls and Leicester coach Meyer said he had concerns over the number of injuries to experienced Springboks who were potential successors to the retired John Smit as captain.

“There’ve been a lot of injuries – guys like Schalk Burger, Juan Smith and Jean de Villiers are all out of action – while there’s been speculation about Victor Matfield playing again and Fourie du Preez isn’t back yet from Japan. I want to give every player the same opportunity to captain South Africa and I’m not going to rush and make a wrong decision. So I’ll announce the captain the week before the first England test and he’ll be captain only for those three tests,” Meyer said.

Senior Springboks like scrumhalf Du Preez, lock Bakkies Botha and utility forward Danie Rossouw have all signed with overseas clubs and Meyer said he was in negotiations with them, their clubs and agents about their availability.

Meyer on Thursday announced a list of 45 players from the Bulls and Sharks, who both have SuperRugby byes next week, to attend the second planning camp, in Pretoria from Sunday to next Thursday.

Planning camp squad – Forwards: Tendai Mtawarira, Bismarck du Plessis, Craig Burden, Jannie du Plessis, Dale Chadwick, Steven Sykes, Jan-André Marais, Marcell Coetzee, Keegan Daniel, Jean Deysel, Willem Alberts, Ryan Kankowski, Lubabalo Mtembu (all Sharks), Dean Greyling, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Werner Kruger, Frik Kirsten, Flip van der Merwe, Juandre Kruger, Wilhelm Steenkamp, Deon Stegmann, CJ Stander, Jacques Potgieter, Dewald Potgieter, Pierre Spies, Arno Botha (all Bulls). Backs: Charl McLeod, Pat Lambie, Odwa Ndungane, Sibusiso Sithole, Tim Whitehead, JP Pietersen, Lwazi Mvovo, Louis Ludik, Riaan Viljoen (all Sharks), Francois Hougaard, Jano Vermaak, Morné Steyn, Bjorn Basson, Wynand Olivier, Francois Venter, Johann Sadie, JJ Engelbrecht, Akona Ndungane, Zane Kirchner (all Bulls).

Finding common ground with the Super Rugby franchises and northern hemisphere clubs who have potential Springboks will be Heyneke Meyer’s priority, the new South Africa coach said on Monday.

Meyer was appointed on Friday as former coach Peter de Villiers’ successor and will be tasked with rebuilding a Springbok team that has lost stalwarts in captain John Smit and vice-captain Victor Matfield, while the international futures of stars such as Fourie du Preez, Jaque Fourie, Danie Rossouw, Gurthro Steenkamp and Francois Steyn are in doubt because they are based overseas.

This year’s SuperRugby competition runs from February through to August, with Meyer’s first assignment sandwiched in the middle as England visit South Africa for three tests in June.

“SuperRugby is going to put pressure on. All of the franchises want to win, I’m realistic enough to know that, so it’s a big challenge. But it’s also the first year that there are three tests in the middle of the competition and there is no successful method to go back and see what works.

“It’s a fresh challenge and I would like to have a national planning session. I’m on good terms with most of the franchise coaches and I want to see if we can come to a win/win situation, especially in terms of conditioning, which will require a big step up,” Meyer told reporters in Pretoria on Monday.

“I also want to see if it’s possible for me to go overseas and speak to the players there. I’ve spoken to a lot of agents to see who’s available and who’s not available, but we have some quality players overseas.

“The conditioning of the players in the northern hemisphere is one of my concerns. The Heineken Cup is a very tough competition and a lot of the players are conditioned very well, but they peak at different times and I have a few ideas I need to discuss with them and the clubs, again to see if we can come to a win/win situation.”

Meyer stressed that it was also up to the players to show mental toughness in the face of playing schedules that have become more and more demanding.

“We need to rotate players better at SuperRugby level, but I’m also a big believer in mental toughness and the more the players hear and read about burnout, the more they believe it. We can’t make excuses about conditioning, we need to plan and manage our players better,” Meyer said.

The former Bulls director of rugby said one of his other immediate tasks will be to study current rugby trends and make sure the Springboks adapt to the changes in the game.

“I’ve studied a lot of rugby lately and the game changes every six months with the new law interpretations. If you’re not adapting to those changes, you’re going to be left behind.

“The one definite thing that has to change is our conditioning. The guys are playing much more rugby and the game is much quicker; most tests are lost in the last 10 minutes, so you need athletic players.

“It will be important for me to do a lot of research because the game has definitely changed. It’s imperative, though, that we still use our strengths to our advantage and the basics are always the same. We have our own style and we must stick to that.

“I would like to install a national style of play and defence, but I’m realistic enough to know that you can’t force it,” Meyer said.

Heyneke Meyer, who built the Bulls team that has provided the foundation of the Springbok squad for the last eight years, was named as the new South Africa national coach in Cape Town on Friday.

The 44-year-old Meyer, who steered the Bulls to four Currie Cup titles between 2002 and 2006 and then their first Super 14 crown in 2007, has been appointed on a four-year contract.
“It’s truly humbling but also a huge honour and responsibility because the Springboks carry the hopes and dreams of the whole country,” Meyer said at a news conference in Cape Town on Friday. “I want to get the support of everyone behind the team and to do that I have to pick the best possible team. I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep, it would be easy to promise the world, but I need to plan very thoroughly.”

Former Leicester coach Meyer succeeds the controversial Peter de Villiers, who won a single Tri-Nations title and beat the British and Irish Lions in 2009 before guiding the Springboks to the quarterfinals of last year’s World Cup in New Zealand.
Meyer had initially been the favourite to succeed Jake White in 2008 when De Villiers was appointed, and he subsequently quit rugby before joining Leicester in June 2008.

South African Rugby Union (Saru) chief executive Jurie Roux said they had head-hunted Meyer this time around.

“This process started on June 9 last year and the timeline was set to today. We decided to head-hunt the Springbok coach because we knew exactly what we required. Our mandate was simple – to get the best coach to make the Springboks a winning team,” Roux said.
The qualified sports psychologist has been named by lock Victor Matfield, the most-capped Springbok, as the best coach he ever worked under.

Meyer is currently the rugby executive at the Bulls, but Roux said they had no option but to release him for the Springbok job.

“There is no breach of contract because Heyneke had a very definite exit clause for the appropriate position, which this obviously is,” Roux said.

Former Springbok and current Ireland forwards coach Gert Smal was thought to be the frontrunner to succeed De Villiers, but has recently signed an extension until 2013 to his contract with Ireland, leading to Saru’s seemingly rushed negotiations with the Bulls.

Meyer said that he believed it was his calling to eventually coach the Springboks.

“It’s been a long path with the Bulls, but we both realise there are bigger things. I believe that it is my calling to be the coach of the whole nation, not just one province.”

Meyer said that his first task would be to appoint his back-up staff, in consultation with Roux.

“It’s very important that we have the best people involved and a lot of them are in contract – if they aren’t it means that they’re probably not good enough. So there will have to be a lot of negotiation. The national coach shouldn’t have an ego and it would be arrogant for me just to rely on my own resources.”

Meyer said he will also be travelling around the franchises to learn about the character of the men he will be considering for the Springbok team and that it would be too early to name a captain in the wake of John Smit’s retirement.

“We have a very tough start against England, but I’m up for the challenge and we have brilliant players. There are only two types of rugby I know – winning rugby and losing rugby – and I prefer the first one.

“The World Cup is obviously very important to win, but I’m a big believer that whenever you’re on the field, you have to want to win.

“I’m not there to build a Springbok team, I’m there to win,” Meyer said.

England will be the new coach’s first opponents when they come to South Africa in June to play three tests.