Former Springbok World Cup winning captain and prominent business Francois Pienaar believes that South Africa should be ruling the rugby world with the amount of talent within the country and has called for a new way of thinking to restore the dented pride of Springbok rugby.
Pienaar who led the Springboks to their inaugural world title in 1995 has joined the chorus of former players who have expressed their disappointment with the Springboks who finished the year with only four wins out of their 12 Tests which is the worst season in Springbok rugby history.
“It’s incredibly disappointing. We should rule the world because we have the talent in this country to do that,” Pienaar said at the launch of Varsity Cup rugby’s sponsorship with Famous Brands in Johannesburg.
As the Springboks and South Africa’s rugby fraternity try to rummage through the remains of the country’s illustrious legacy that has been destroyed in six months, Pienaar wouldn’t commit himself to being one of the people responsible for finding a solution to rugby’s current woes.
“I don’t want to become the architect of that and I think that is the debate that needs to happen within indoors with people that actually would like to see a positive change,” said Pienaar.
A proponent and vocal advocate of using rugby and sport to unify the country, Pienaar didn’t mince his words in expressing the psychological damage that the country suffers when the Springboks and other national teams don’t do well.
Pienaar is a strong believer that the Springboks should not just be dominant from time to time in world rugby but they must rule the roost in the same manner and time period that the All Blacks have done in the past five years.
“Just look at the effect. If our sporting teams don’t do well it has a major psychological effect on everybody because in this country we love our sport and we want our teams to be the best. And that is week in and week out not just on the odd occasion.”
With another Indaba set for this month following the inaugural meeting in October, Pienaar is eager to see what structures will be put in place to mitigate the decline in fortunes for Springbok and South African rugby and believes that there should be a new thinking in the way the business of rugby is conducted in order for the Springboks to return to their former glory.
“Let’s see what comes out of it (Indaba). They’ve had the Indaba just before the tour, so let’s see what structures are in place. There is a different thinking necessary definitely in order for us to be the best in the world. What stops us from being number one in the world?”
Independent Media