Loose Pass: TV drama, perfect final and England

Editor

This week we will mostly be concerning ourselves with loss, redemption and everything in between…

Losing it…

And then they all forgot about the rugby. Late on a Saturday afternoon on South African TV, after an exciting Lions-Brumbies clash, Ashwin Willemse – who would normally have been delivering a video highlight summary – accused Naas Botha and Nick Mallett of patronising and undermining him, then left his notes on the desk and shuffled edgily off set.

There was nothing direct, but there were unmistakable undertones of historical racial resentment in what Willemse said. South Africa’s rugby public, predictably, lost its ever-precarious cool.

What we don’t know is where it all came from. Nothing was said on live TV and nobody has spilled the beans about anything said off camera, but watching the clip it’s pretty obvious the tensions were already simmering before the incident – not least when the presenter felt compelled to let out a nervously shrill “you guys.. ha ha ha” as both Willemse and Botha tried with some ill-disguised irony to let the other review the game first before Mallett chimed in with a stats recital, maybe in an attempt to get the focus back to the game.

The most direct insight so far was a Monday morning TV interview with Willemse’s biographer and Thando Manana, a former Springbok, who suggested that either or both of Mallett and Botha may have said off air that Willemse had been a beneficiary of transformation quotas during his playing days.

That suggestion lends an air of logic to Willemse’s exit speech:

“I’ve been in the game for a long time like most of us here‚” Willemse said. “As a player‚ I’ve been called a quota for a long time and I’ve worked very hard to earn the respect I have now. I’m not going to sit here and be patronised by these two individuals (Mallett and Botha) who played their rugby during the apartheid era‚ a segregated era.”

It also lends an air of logic to the subsequent statements made by all three after discussions held on Monday to clear the air, where Willemse talked of “the complexity of the issues (being) very profound,” and Mallett noted that “there are issues that must be grappled with.”

But we don’t know what caused it. And being as there’s no implication of any serious misconduct so far, it’s unlikely to be something that anybody outside the triumvirate’s minds really understands. This does not appear to be any accusation of racism, intimidation, bullying, harassment, rather a disagreement over perspectives. Or, of course, it simply could be children arguing over who was going to make their analysis presentation first.

But the fault-lines in South Africa have been left dreadfully exposed once again. Social media pages have been left in a blue hue with tribal rants about white superiority and black empowerment. One journalist was told a story of how expatriate South Africans in Australia almost came to blows outside a church over the issue.

It would, in this case, help all to know what did cause it, as it would at least help those determined to push through their ugly private agendas to focus on the facts. After all, it’s not the first time Mallett and Willemse have disagreed heatedly on air: a Test against Ireland a while ago was punctuated by Willemse imploring Mallett (and a couple of others) to stop being so negative about the national team and be more encouraging. Much was said about that too, but it hardly ignited the fire that this spat has.

This issue will not go away without the facts being revealed by the protagonists. Unless it does go away, South Africa’s rugby public will continue to be fractured. That, on top of a stuttering national team and an internal competition landscape featuring teams playing in different competitions on opposite sides of the world, leaves nobody a winner.

Getting it back…

There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the two best teams in England will contest the Premiership final on Saturday. But while the Exeter machine has been the one purring along this season, Saracens’ story is a little more colourful this time.

Having surrendered their Premiership title last season, England’s flagship team then welcomed back a phalanx of battered Lions, and suffered a terrible slump around November-December. The mojo looked to be lost.

But the spring feeling is strong in north London. Anybody who thought the helpless-looking loss to Leinster on April 1 was a portent of doom has been proven to be a fool. Since then, Sarries have notched scores of 63, 41, 51, 62 and 57 in their five matches.

Exeter have hardly been score-shy during that time either, never failing to score 30-plus, but Saracens’ form is something else.

Season finals where the obvious two strongest teams both make the big day and do so looking to be peaking are remarkably rare, but this coming Saturday’s finale promises to be a classic.

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And everything in between…

Eddie Jones has to be hopeful that whatever gloom has lifted from Saracens will now lift from England too. But the unity apparent in Enfield has not been evident in Twickers for a while and it’s hard not to see this June’s tour being a watershed moment for Jones.

Once the tour of South Africa has concluded, Jones will be entering the final 15 months of a World Cup cycle without an attack coach or a defence coach, following Paul Gustard’s decision to step up to the Harlequins plate. Other roles have also come and gone during the Jones era. Gustard’s decision to jump ship is a curious one, and not one that implies all is well in Jones’ England set-up. Saracens’ England contingent’s delivery of some sensational rugby, on the back of many of them disappointing during the Six Nations, also creates a curious anomaly.

Yet Jones has presided over eras with highs and lows before. His work ethic remains incomparable and there can be no dispute over his track record in the big tournaments.

It’s been a rough year for England, but possible redemption awaits…

Loose Pass compiled by former Planet Rugby Editor Danny Stephens