In the second of an exclusive two-part Q&A with Springbok assistant coach Gary Gold, Howard Kahn asks him about the 2011 World Cup, keeping players in cotton wool and life after rugby.

Howard Kahn (HK): Gary, no country has ever successfully defended the William Webb Ellis trophy. England came close in 2007, almost by accident... Do you, and the rest of the Bok coaching staff, know what it takes to successfully defend a World Cup title?

GG: "Well, if we don't think we know what it takes, let me tell you that we're working bloody hard trying to find out just what it takes to win back-to-back World Cup title! Already, we've had meetings at the highest level, with senior players and senior management members at SA Rugby, where we've done a swot analysis on everything that went right (in 2007) and what could be improved upon (in 2011). The similarity for us is that we will once again be travelling [to New Zealand], but in many ways there are many things that have already fallen into place - almost by accident - already.

"As you know we will be playing in New Zealand in 2011 - a place where we've now won twice in a row and against a home team that we have beaten three times in succession. So, yes, the confidence is quite high when it comes to facing the hosts, but no team - apart from Australia - would have visited New Zealand as frequently as us. There is more to visiting New Zealand than people realise; there are things there that can take you by surprise if you're not expecting it. Take a simple thing like communicating with your family back home... it can be quite off-putting if you're not used to it. We all travel to NZ so often, that, really, we are hoping we will have an edge in some way.

"Then, and more importantly, we've won there in two pretty difficult places - Dunedin and Hamilton - in the last two years and with the World Cup games set for Wellington and (hopefully) Auckland, ironically enough our Tri-Nations matches are taking place in those venues next year. So, you see, there's always another goal for us around the corner as we look ahead to 2011, as there is on this end-of-season tour with Six Nations champions Ireland, in Dublin, a huge challenge in itself."

HK: Are there plans in place to lighten the loads on the likes of John Smit, Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, Fourie du Preez and Bryan Habana - all of whom are class acts and key men ahead of the 2011 World Cup?

GG: "I think it's a balance... You cannot wrap those guys in cotton wool, as they need to stay sharp, but you cannot play them into the ground either. So, what's the solution then? Well, there is already a process in place for the Super 14 and Currie Cup coaches to sit down with Peter and to devise a way forward for at least the top 19 (contracted) players and we obviously need to devise a way forward for those guys - again, proper planning has to take place.

"But you know, I saw a stat the other day about the age of the guys and I'm not mistaken we should have a younger team, on average of about two, two-and-a-half-years, than Clive Woodward's England team in 2003. We need that experience and having two guys with over 100 caps and, I think, another eight with more than 50 Test caps is a pretty healthy environment going to a country where we're confident that we can win - it's good planning... Remember, also that just three guys will be over the age of 30, and they're all tight forwards, it's not a terrible position to be in - especially when you have guys like Danie Rossouw and Andries Bekker backing up Bakkies and Victor and Jannie du Plessis in the mix at tighthead, and, who knows, maybe BJ (Botha) and CJ (van der Linde) will be back by then too.

"In the actual year of the World Cup we probably need to look at something along the lines of a substantial break, followed by a pretty intense reconditioning phase, so we do give ourselves the very best chance of the guys being as fresh and as ready as possible for a tough four-week campaign. So yes, planning is most definitely in place."

  • This article continues on page two...

  • Take a look at Part One of the interview...

  • Former rugby365 editor Howard Kahn is the MD of Sports Network. Email howard@sportsnetwork.co.za for all your media management and sports marketing needs.


    Page: 1 of 3 - next
    RSS
    Digg
    de.li.cious
    facebook
    LATEST FEATURES
    SA football's dire state Former Bafana coach Ted Dumitru highlights the current deficiencies plaguing SA soccer.
    Gary Gold Q&A - Part II (c) Gallo/Sasol We bring you the second part of our exclusive interview with Bok assistant coach Gary Gold.
    Santana was not that bad Craig Urquhart says there was much to admire about former Bafana Bafana coach Joel Santana.


    Print this page
    Send this article to a friend