The addition of Brendan Venter to the Springbok coaching staff would be a massive coup, writes CRAIG LEWIS.
SA Rugby finally clarified the future of the Bok coaching group on Monday, confirming that Franco Smith would be officially coming on board as attack and backs coach, but would only reveal that a 'major new defensive coach will be confirmed once contractual details are finalised'.
However, it has increasingly become an open secret that Venter is in line to take up this new role. The former Sharks director of rugby has often said he loves a challenge, but opting to leave the relative security of a long-term role with Italy to join an ailing Bok side is a decision that will not come easily.
Should his appointment be confirmed, Venter faces a Herculean task to resurrect the team’s defensive woes from 2016. Last year, the position of defence coach became something of a poisoned chalice. Jacques Nienaber, Chean Roux and JP Ferreira all had stints in charge of this aspect of play, but by the time the Boks headed out on their end-of-year tour, their confidence and cohesion in defence was absolutely shattered.
It was quite simply embarrassing to see the Boks concede two soft tries through the pillar area in their opening end-of-year tour game against England, but this was simply an indication of a defensive system that had been thrown into disarray as one defensive coach succeeded another.
After conceding nearly four tries and 30 points per Test in the Rugby Championship, the Boks leaked an average of nearly three tries and 28 points in Europe, while regularly failing to secure the breakdown or win the collisions.
Throughout last year, the communication of roles and responsibilities was desperately disorganised, and in all reality, a 57-15 hammering at the hands of the All Blacks was just as much of an indictment as the 20-18 loss to Italy.
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So where will that leave Venter? The system is broken, and yet there is such limited time to correct fundamental flaws and set the correct structures back in place. As it is, Venter is still overseas completing his duties with Italy, and may only be expected to take up any SA Rugby role permanently after the Six Nations.
However, Italy’s loss will be the Springboks’ gain. Over the years, Venter has emerged as something of a magic man in the coaching world. In his time at Saracens he reinvented their culture and fostered a team environment that led to sustainable success.
Venter was also a universally popular figure during a short-term stint at the Sharks in 2013, when he found a way to unite a team in relative turmoil after the unexpected axing of highly respected and long-serving coach John Plumtree. In the space of three short months, Venter led the Sharks to the Currie Cup title, which included masterminding an astute kicking strategy that inspired an upset win over Western Province at Newlands.
Only this past weekend, Venter was at it again as he played his part in a unique breakdown strategy that saw Italy commit no numbers to a defensive ruck, and with no offside line in play as a result, players were able to move into the passing line of the halfback.
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Although England coach Eddie Jones launched a scathing attack on the tactic after the game, it was a highly effective move from left-field, and kept Italy in the game for much longer than expected. It's this sort of innovation that the Boks are desperately in need of.
Just last year, the Boks were also on the receiving end when Venter provided a Midas touch to help Italy produce a game plan that resulted in a first-ever win over South Africa, and ultimately fuelled their desire to appoint him on a long-term deal.
As it turns out, it appears that he will now vacate that position to rather contribute to a clearly desperate South African rugby situation. For him, joining up with the Boks is something of a passion project. There were already clear indications when he led last year’s coaches indaba, that he wants to be part of the solution rather than watch from afar.
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Through his appointment, and with the well-travelled Smith coming on board, the Boks could add some considerable rugby intellect to the coaching set-up.
Importantly, they are also appointments that should win approval from Coetzee, who looks set to be handed a tenuous coaching lifeline that may well rely heavily on the impact that Venter and Smith can add to the team.
Inevitably, there will be those who are likely to speculate as to who the real head coach behind closed doors might be, with such strong personalities in the mix, but this has to be a team effort if the Boks are to turn their fortunes around.
In discussing the woes of the Boks last year, Venter made it clear that the team first had to ‘walk before they could run’. He advocated the need to restore the principles of defence, ball-carrying, breakdown basics and kicking before contemplating any thoughts of attempting ambitious attacking rugby.
Like it or not, this is the philosophy the Boks have to adopt in 2017. They’ve hit rock bottom and they have to go back to basics. In this regard, Venter is the ideal candidate to create something from nothing, but he needs to have a clearly defined role that complements the work of Smith.
More than ever, though, Venter needs to be given the freedom to work his magic on a Bok team that was completely cursed in 2016.
– Lewis is a senior rugby writer at Highbury Media
Photo: Luigi Bennett/BackpagePix
