Lucky Sithole
It’s like watching your mother-in-law driving your brand new Audi over a cliff. You don’t know if you should laugh or cry.
The rumour that Neil Powell may be leaving the Blitzbokke Sevens side to join the 15-man format, is not new. Whenever there are problems with the premier format, the question comes up and with good reason.
At the Olympic Games, the Blitzbokke performed dismally, particularly against Argentine, but Powell could not be at the pitch due to Covid. He lamented his team’s performance. He said it was an unfortunate set of circumstances but said they would do better next time. And they did. They destroyed Kenya in the final of the Vancouver Sevens by 38-7. (A Sevens tournament without Australia, New Zealand and Fiji can’t be celebrated too wildly.)
As Powell had accepted the Olympic defeat, so he accepted the Vancouver victory – with calm humility.
By contrast, Jacques Nienaber compounded a horror weekend, with media blunders.
His pathetic apology to the nation had all the hallmarks of a loser. Coaches, don’t cower – they take it on the chin! Then he stated the obvious: “We were overpowered. We have not conceded four tries in a match since 2018 and today we could not respond to the challenges put up by Australia.”
Then he implied that the players were at fault.
“If every player in the team misses just one tackle, you will have 23 missed tackles and at times it felt like that was happening.”
Well done, coach. Humiliate your players in public. John Mitchell got fired from the Gauteng Lions for less.
And just when South Africa needed him most, Rassie was . . . well . . . who knows where? (Jokes about cryptocurrency are no longer funny.)
Of course, the desperate talk about bringing in Neil Powell pops up again. But Powell is a coach, not a miracle worker. Tapping a few drops of Condis Crystals into a bath of swampy water is not going to help. One hopes Powell realises that.
Image source: @SARugbyMag
