Low Key Media Build Up to Game

Well, there is some sting starting to come out in the build up to this Saturday’s test between the Africans and the Wallabies.  I’d have to say that this is a bit of an anticlimax after last weeks pre-match media battles between the All Blacks coaching Staff and knuckles Connolly and his side kick.  I am guessing that the Australians are finding it difficult to take the game seriously after the 49-0 thrashing.

I can report that today I again spied the Springbok team training in the lead up to the game.  This time, however, the entire team seemed to be present.  Captain Smit and a couple of others were there first, but about an hour later the rest of the team arrived and got quite a lot of attention from the locals.  It was great to see these guys, not exactly out in public, but at least not locked away training in exclusive gyms only for the rich and famous.  Even though it hasn’t been plain sailing for the team in Sydney this week (see the last posting on the site) the team seemed in good spirits and went through a fairly impressive workout.  Really interesting to see these guys up close and get an idea of how fit and big they are.  Os Du Randt blocked out the sun when he walked in – a mountain of a man and it looked like it was all muscle.

However, onto the media related events.  Surprise, surprise the Aussie media are trying to get coach White to say that they are going to target Larkham on Saturday night.  Hello!  He is one of the key players in the Aussie side, of course they are going to target him…but what is the point of trying to get the coach to say they will try to rip his head off?  Not even South African rugby is likely to produce a comment as stupid as that in the lead up to a game, and I think that he handled a stupid series of questions pretty well.  Click here for more on that from Greg Gowden.

Gowden’s article picks up on an issue that appears to be red hot in South Africa, and doubtless would be elsewhere in the world if it was raised.  It is claimed that Coach White has been directed to select 5 black players – a quota system for the national team.  A recent letter has been leaked to the press and is causing some controversy, mostly because it relates to previous acrimony between coach and union over his claims that selections are dictated by such a policy, effectively tying his hands over selection.  I gather his claim is that to a certain extent, this has an impact on the ability of the Union to hold him accountable for the performance of the team.  Click here for more on the leaked letter.  

It seems to me that if they are going to have this policy, then transparency is exactly what is required – and you don’t get that by trying to shut down questions in press conferences about the issue (as can be seen in the Gowden article above).  A public statement ought to be made about the quota and how it operates.  This secretive correspondence between coach and Union is exactly the kind of thing that causes confusion, resentment, and division within a team.  Small wonder they have struggled on the field in recent years (and no, I am not suggesting that this is the only reason for the form slump).

19 year old ‘Chiliboy’ has been getting some media attention in the lead up to the match at the weekend.  He is a rising star of Springboks rugby, and there is already talk of him being captain as hooker.  This will put him directly in competition with his mentor and great mate, the present captain and hooker of South Africa, Smit.  He certainly is very young, not even being 20 yet and being named in the reserves.  In line with the above racial issues in South African Rugby, race is being raised in connection with the young mans elevation to the national squad this weekend.   Let’s hope he can put it to one side and get stuck in and become the best man for the position.  As a substitute hooker he probably is the best man for the job, and in any event blooding new players from the bench is important for a proper introduction to test match rugby.   Click here for an in depth article about Chiliboy, his relationship with Smit, and his inclusion in the side this weekend.  Click here for more on Chiliboy, and also some comment on the new starting man in the African team for Saturday, Johann Muller.

And, can you believe it, that’s it!  All the rest of the media are focusing on whether or not Graham Henry has said that he will retire at the end of the World Cup in France next year.  If the All Blacks lose he certainly will retire, or will be forced to as his predecessors have in recent years.  For a very short article on that, click here.  Bring on the game!