ON THE BALL: Please come out of the closet Rassie and Jacques. You have a World Cup to win, pleads Lucky Maree.
By all accounts, Ruth from the Old Testament Bible, sincerely meant it when she told Naomi, her mother-in-law, that she would follow her wherever she went and she would live wherever she lived.
There is something Biblical about the way Jacques Nienaber has followed Rassie Erasmus around the world.
The truth is, nobody can claim to know what Rassie Erasmus, as director of rugby, really does these days. Which means it is difficult to say, in turn, what role Jacques Nienaber really plays as Springbok coach.
For almost 17 years now, Jacques has been Rassie’s sidekick, and the two have been a brilliant combination.
Rassie took over as head coach of the Cheetahs in 2005 with Jacques as physio. That season the team won the Currie Cup.
When Rassie went to the Stormers in Cape Town in 2008, Jacques followed as defence coach and Western Province immediately became one of the best defensive teams in both the Currie Cup and Super Rugby. The team made it to the finals of both competitions in 2010.
Significantly, Jacques then joined what was called the Mobi-unit, an innovative squad that moved around the country doing coaching with all the teams. Oh, and by the way, the unit was headed up by you-know-who.
In 2016, Jacques followed Rassie to Ireland for a successful spell at Munster.
Rassie first became director of rugby for the South African national team in 2018 and was later called in to save the Springboks when Allister Coetzee was leading the Boks into the abyss.
The brilliant way Rassie (with his trusty Jacques at his side) won the World Cup in 2019 is a matter of record. A magnificent sports achievement.
The turbulent years after the World Cup saw Jacques officially taking over as coach. Covid-19 ripped the sport apart and World Rugby wrapped a thick roll of duct tape around Rassie’s head, banning him for a year and silencing him for (who knows) maybe the rest of his career.
We still don’t know who is truly in charge of the Springboks but some coaching cracks have shown.
The Boks haven’t done badly, but you don’t win the World Cup by being an also-ran team.
The Rugby Championship, which seemed to be a tight contest until the last day, turned into a runaway victory for the All Blacks. A helluva statement ahead of the World Cup.
Jacques Nienaber (with help from who-knows-where) gambled on Joseph Dweba and he insisted on gambling on Elton Jantjies – and we all know how that played out.
Nienaber also insisted on the 6/2 bench arrangement that twice backfired. Then he did it again against the Pumas. He gambled on Frans Steyn as back up for Damian Willemse after Handré Pollard’s injury. And that was, truth be told, a mess.
Nienaber talks about the most important position on the field and casually says they don’t have to bring in a flyhalf because Fransie is there, and, “Faf can also play at flyhalf.” Why he didn’t fly in one of at least three excellent provincial players from South Africa, only he knows.
Perhaps, with about 340 days before the World Cup in France, it is time for Rassie and Jacques to come out of the closet and bring the old firm together just one more time.
Just until the World Cup, let Rassie step down from being the director (whatever that may be) and make him the head coach. Let Jacques take the job as assistant coach. This is one of the greatest coaching combinations in the history of the game.
Let them work together for the year-end tour against Ireland, France, Italy and England and let them go and win the World Cup for us. After that they can slip back into the shadows and then it doesn’t matter that we don’t know what they do when they’re there.
Image source: @TheSouthAfrican
