Durban - Jacques Nienaber’s surprise revelation that he is to depart the Springbok coaching job after the World Cup has sparked a succession debate that is the most open in years.
Seldom in Springbok history has there been such an array of well-qualified options and that can only be good for the game in this country.
While there was shock at the out-of-the-blue nature of Nienaber’s announcement that he is leaving South Africa to take up a top job at Irish giants Leinster, he will see out the World Cup in September.
If you consider that the rugby world works on four-year cycles geared toward peaking for the global showpiece, Nienaber’s resignation is no train smash because this is a watershed year and a new four-year cycle will begin next year.
It is the ideal time to have a change in coach and given we are still five months away from France 2023, SA Rugby has more than enough time to make a considered selection from a wealth of options.
Key to the debate over the new coach is whether to appoint a successor from the current coaching staff or wipe the slate clean and start a fresh era with a new coaching staff and new ideas on how to take the Springboks forward.
The current assistants are Mzwandile Stick and Deon Davids. They have worked under the director of rugby, Rassie Erasmus, and Nienaber since the beginning of 2018. It would be a seamless transition if one of them took over, especially if Erasmus continues as director of rugby.
I say continue because although Erasmus is contracted until the end of 2025, if we have seen Nienaber take the overseas bait, it can just as easily be swallowed by Rassie, who is understood to have been approached by the top English club, Leicester.
Nienaber and Erasmus have been a team since they were in the army together in Bloemfontein when Erasmus was a player and Nienaber was training to be a physiotherapist. They have worked together ever since, be it at the Cheetahs, Stormers, Munster or the Springboks.
Nienaber has chosen to cut the apron strings and become his own man and I wonder how much longer Rassie will hang around at SA Rugby HQ.
I’m not saying that one of Davids or Stick needs to have Rassie there to hold their hand, not at all. But their promotion does make more sense if Rassie’s World Cup-winning expertise provides the backdrop.
Let’s look at the other side of the coin. What if South African rugby begins with a clean slate in January next year with a brand-new coaching staff?
I am warming to this scenario after having initially been in the continuity camp when the Nienaber news broke last Saturday.
Within South Africa, there are two exceptional coaches in John Dobson and Jake White. The manner in which Dobbo has built the Stormers into United Rugby Championship winners
is incredible. He has not had the financial resources of the Sharks or Bulls but through charisma and awareness of the strengths of his players, he has worked wonders. Dobson would make a terrific Springbok coach and it should be his reward either now or after the next cycle.
Let’s look at Jake. A poll conducted this week on a rugby website among 10 000 participants had White as a distant contender and I don’t understand why. It seems to be a South African thing that wisdom and experience are often overlooked for personal or provincial preference.
White won a World Cup and probably has more top-level coaching experience than anyone else on the planet. Besides coaching the Sharks, Bulls and Boks in South Africa, he has coached in France (Montpellier), Australia (Brumbies) and Japan (Toyota Verblitz).
In 2011, White was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame. The 59-year-old would love a Second Coming at the Springboks and would do an excellent job.
The contenders based overseas include former Italy coach Franco Smith (Glasgow Warriors), Johan van Graan (Bath) and Johan Ackermann (Red Hurricanes).
Of those three, Ackermann leaps out at me. What a great Springbok he was and what a revelation as a coach when he took the Lions to a succession of Super Rugby finals. In 2016, he moved from the Lions to Gloucester where he was a hugely respected coach.
Here is what I think is the best outcome for South African rugby. How strong can the game become in the Republic over the next four-year cycle with dynamic domestic coaches in White (Bulls), Dobson (Stormers) and John Plumtree (Sharks) while The Meneer, as the players call Johan Ackermann, takes the Boks into a bright new future?
IOL Sport