The World Cup was the last stop for the Springboks’ golden boys, and that means the team bus won’t be driven by the players in 2016.
John Smit captained arguably the most talented group of Boks between 2004 and 2011. Along the way, the core of that team won two Tri-Nations titles (2004 and 2009), a series against the British & Irish Lions in 2009 and the 2007 World Cup.
Key members included fullback Percy Montgomery, South Africa’s all-time leading points-scorer, wing Bryan Habana, the most prolific try-scorer in team history, the most-capped Bok centre combination of Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie, scrumhalf Fourie du Preez who is globally regarded as one of the greats in his position, iconic openside flank Schalk Burger, the legendary second-row duo of Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha, and powerhouse loosehead prop Os du Randt.
Du Randt was 22 when he propped up the Bok scrum to help win the 1995 World Cup. Jake White recalled him to the national setup in 2004 after a five-year hiatus and the ox from Elliot in the Eastern Cape powered the tight five to victory in the 2007 World Cup final, his last match as a professional.
Between 2000 and 2003, Du Randt was not selected for South Africa and he had participated in just one Super Rugby campaign – though his passport said he was 34, the scrum giant could probably have pressed on for two more years and the chance to beat the touring Lions.
The tales of Du Randt’s passion for the Springboks are hair-raising and have been credited for sowing White’s team together in 2004. It was perhaps because of this passion, and the knowledge that he was beyond his prime, that Du Randt retired after the 2007 World Cup final.
If more of Du Randt’s teammates had shown the same discretion, South Africa may on Saturday have become the home of the four-time world champions.
Instead, many of the heroes of the Boks’ golden era quietly staged a coup, becoming masters of, rather than servants to, the team that had reduced Du Randt, a 130kg scrumming beast, to tears of joy.
South Africa’s success in 2009 was in spite of Peter de Villiers, Dick Muir and Gary Gold. Recognising the ineptitude of a shambolic management team in 2008, the players gradually assumed operational control.
Warnings about the perils of an autonomous team went unheeded as the Boks beat the Lions and twice defeated the All Blacks in 2009.
But there were signs that the bearings needed to be replaced on the November tour of Europe when the Boks were beaten by English club sides. And the wheels came off in 2010 as South Africa finished the Tri-Nations in last place, 20 log points behind the All Blacks after four losses in six matches. The team remained largely unchanged.
More concerning was that the post-2007 player autonomy was not limited to the national set up; it pervaded the regional teams too. Super Rugby coaches deferred to these star athletes who were given the latitude to rubber-stamp or veto decisions related to tactics, and selection.
Turkeys don’t vote for Christmas and, true to the idiom, the golden boys fortified their positions in the hierarchy of their regional teams. While junior players were fined for arriving late to team meetings, some of the golden boys got away with a smile and a flippant apology.
This unhealthy relationship created a glass ceiling for the players who had graduated to the senior ranks after 2007, or even before that.
Bismarck du Plessis made his Test debut in July, 2007. He was nominated for SA Rugby player of the year in 2008 and by then it was obvious to many that he was a better option at hooker than Smit, who missed time due to a groin injury.
Unfortunately for Jannie du Plessis, Bismarck’s gain was his loss. In the absence of a strong-willed coach, Smit was allowed to reinvent himself as South Africa’s first-choice tighthead prop.
Perhaps this is also the reason that Andries Bekker never quite got the chance to challenge Victor Matfield for the No 5 jersey and why, three year’s after Bekker’s last Test appearance, 38-year-old Matfield jogged on against the All Blacks in the World Cup to earn his 127th cap.
An inspection of each of the positions where depth will be a real concern for the Boks in 2016 can almost always be traced back to an “irreplaceable” golden boy.
Who will take over at No 9 from Du Preez? Can Lood de Jager spearhead the lineout like Matfield did? Will Handre Pollard know what to do without Burger lining up at first-receiver? And who can be trusted with defence on the left wing in place of Habana?
The good news is that, from next year, coaches will answer those questions. Not players. - Cape Times