Time of reckoning for Meyer

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer is set to nail his colours to the mast and name his team. Picture: Muzi Ntombela

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer is set to nail his colours to the mast and name his team. Picture: Muzi Ntombela

Published Aug 23, 2015

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Durban – It is very nearly time. Time for the speculation to stop. Time for the veils to be removed. Time for some bold words and, perhaps, even bolder decisions. On Friday, after an August from hell and back, it is decision time for Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer.

The world of rugby has been quietly flexing its collective muscles, as the Rugby World Cup draws ever nearer. With each passing week, squads are being finalised, and the inevitable sighs of disapproval ring out in every corner, along with whispers of approval.

Always, the dissenting voices are louder because, as every national coach will attest, those on the outside looking in always know better. There is always a young player who should have been included, always a veteran who went on one year too long.

The debate is expected, embraced even. Because, if it were not there, that would be testament to a lack of passion to that national jersey. As he sits quaffing his coffee in his Beverley Hills hotel suite this morning, overlooking the deceiving calm of the ocean, Meyer will know for sure there are deep waters of discontent swirling around South Africa.

Again, that is inevitable, and he must have long braced himself for this week. The end of August 2015 may have seemed forever away at the start of the year, and even more so as the Springboks dusted themselves off from a year-end tour that opened up more questions than gave answers, but it is here now.

Those questions would have increased during a collectively underwhelming Super Rugby campaign, where teams disappointed, but intriguing individuals popped up and surprised with their free-spirited ability at a level they had previously not experienced.

New names suddenly presented themselves to Meyer’s brains-trust, names that could not easily be ignored. Suddenly, alongside household staples such as Vermeulen, Du Plessis and Habana have been joined by Kriel, Van der Merwe and Mapoe.

The pool that Meyer has to periodically wade through to sift out a side suddenly got deeper, and the water got murkier. That pool has been further muddied by injuries, and comebacks and call backs. The sifting process, which Meyer kept fairly simple for three and a half years, suddenly became rather sticky.

All these complications played out with a compelling narrative on the periphery. The progress of Jean de Villiers’ rehabilitation was an unspoken secret, a process so delicate that it seemed reckless to enquire about it, for fear that the dream may wither away into nothingness.

De Villiers’ enemy – and, consequently Meyer’s – was time. How much time can one man be indulged with, no matter how much of his own time he has selflessly offered for the cause? How much time would he need to get back on his feet, and then running, and then competing?

Time. Time and time again, it has been a question of time for Meyer. As it was, De Villiers did come back in time, only to find himself a new drama. His face currently looks like he has done some time in a dark alley with Mike Tyson, and he has a new race against dreaded time.

Of course, De Villiers is not the only man racing the clock. Duane Vermeulen, Fourie du Preez and Marcell Coetzee are some of the key men looking nervously at the calendar. The news from team doctor Craig Roberts is encouraging, but there is serious danger in taking fragile cargo to what will be the most physical of World Cups.

Meyer has continuously talked up the need to take the emotion out of his decision-making. That is easier said than done. The Bok coach has shown himself to be an emotional man, from his impassioned belting of the anthem, to his sharp defence of his side.

Emotions will run especially high this week, and world rugby has already seen some serious casualties ahead of the World Cup. Warren Gatland didn’t blink when he cut the likes of Mike Phillips from his squad, and neither did Michael Cheika when his Australian squad was announced without Nic White and James Horwill.

They were unemotional, sentiment-free snips, and reminded every member of the Welsh and Wallaby squads that no man is untouchable. Sure, both Gatland and Cheika will have their detractors over the next few weeks, but they have bucked the trend and made calls with their gut, rather than their heart.

In an ideal world, with every man free from injury, and playing at the requisite level for international consideration, Meyer may have picked an altogether different starting line-up for his opening World Cup fixture.

But, we don’t live in a dream world.

Now is the time for Meyer to nail his colours to the mast.

– The Sunday Independent

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