Good luck, Allister Coetzee. Since the announcement of the worst-kept secret in rugby, you have been a pleasure to watch in action. You have been available to everyone and have won over the public with your modesty, sense of humour and general likeability.
Don’t be fooled. Lose a few games, make a few left-field selections and, heaven forbid, start to transform enthusiastically and the trolls will be out of their caves and onto your back in a flash.
Enjoy the honeymoon while it lasts and, for goodness sake, establish a support system for when the going gets tough because, with the possible exception of the Brazilian soccer coach, you have the hardest job in sport.
In a way, the positions are similar. Both countries have fallen in stature in their respective fields but both sets of national fans and the media have not realised that. As such, nothing less than victory in every single game is enough. You have to return to the top without losing along the way and that is virtually impossible if you are to employ the changes that are needed in order to achieve that goal. I can hear knives sharpening as this is being read. As someone in Ireland rather indelicately put it, to be a national coach in a country that demands constant victory: “You need to have a neck like a jockey’s backside! Away they go!”
In fact, the Irish series is not a bad one with which to start. You don’t want minnows and you don’t want the All Blacks. Ireland are a good side and under Joe Schmidt are desperate to step up to the next level. That means regular wins against the Big Three and they believe a tour here now, against a new Springbok regime, fits the bill.
They’ll be well prepared but doing this against an unknown quantity is hard. That is an advantage. You can surprise them. They will expect a big, physical forward effort, conservative tactics and, when the game opens up, hard-running backs.
“Subdue and penetrate” has been the Springbok mantra and overall it’s pretty accurate. But it’s no longer good enough in this age of high-speed continued offence. Now you have to subdue and penetrate all at the same time. For 80 minutes.
There’s little time before kick-off but we know that, behind the delayed announcement, much work has been done in preparation. Ireland’s strengths and weaknesses will have been analysed and plans laid to counteract them to gain the ascendancy. Hopefully you and Rassie’s team are on the same page. He has never shied from innovation and that’s what is needed. You have a chance to surprise. Take it.
Have you seen the recording of the Blues-Chiefs match? It was a game seemingly from another planet. The pace was frightening, the level of skill incredible and the physical commitment in both attack and defence amazing. It was one of the best games in the competition and showed the way forward. It was scary.
With such skill and physical commitment on show by all the players, you would have expected that few individual performances could have shone out. In fact, one did. The Blues have a young flank called Blake Gibson. I was vaguely aware of the name but, as he had suffered injury in the past after a bright start, it was not front of mind. This was the first time to really see him in action. Wow!
He’s small in stature for a modern flank at 1.86m. He’s over 100kg and this is all muscle. But it’s his speed that catches the eye. Imagine Ray Mordt or Danie Gerber playing at flank. Imagine what that would have been like in days of old. They would have done the grunt and grind but imagine, close to the ball, the number of running opportunities they would have received and taken on?
Gibson, I believe, demonstrates the next evolution in the game. Flanks will not just be spoilers and tacklers but have the opportunity to be fast attackers and creative game-changers. They are always close to the ball and, with defences spreading like margarine, there are now opportunities close in as well as wide. First defenders are often slow forwards. Guys like Gibson enjoy the strength and explosive speed to exploit this. Think of them hovering and running off creative half-backs. Think of the chaos they can cause. Think of Jaco Kriel given such a role in a Bok set-up geared to play such a game. Wow!
Can we make the step-up to a different philosophy quickly? “No” is the simple answer. Mindsets have to be changed and that is always tough and even more so in our rugby. I would settle for signs that we have seen the future and are going to embrace it. The emphasis must be on extreme skill as well as physicality.
For a year or two I would be happy to lose our share in order to win in Japan. I am happy to be the Leicester City of international rugby preparing for when it all comes spectacularly to fruition, as it has done for them this season. In the new game, the Jamie Vardys of rugby might well be wearing six and seven.
*Robbie hosts the breakfast show on 702, weekdays 6-9am. - Saturday Star