Springboks’ new defence coach to learn Afrikaans as ‘very personal’ Ireland Tests loom

New Springboks defence coach Jerry Flannery has revealed he thinks he can learn Afrikaans within a year as he embraces his new role with South Africa that will see him face his home nation, Ireland, as his first task.

Flannery worked with Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber at Munster years ago and has now replaced the latter as defence coach of the Springboks as part of a coaching shuffle for the next Rugby World Cup cycle.

Against his home nation

The former hooker is not the first Irishman in a Springboks set-up with Felix Jones having paved the way over the last two World Cups before joining England. Flannery revealed he had been in contact with his compatriot around the intricacies of being part of the Bok set-up.

When asked by Independent Newspapers if he would learn the South African national anthem he responded brilliantly with his plan to learn Afrikaans before more seriously admitting how personal the two mid-year Test against Ireland will be.

“Should I? I didn’t see Felix singing it! But I’m trying to get buy-in here, so if you think I should…,” Flannery said.

“I got told I’ve got to learn Afrikaans in two years – I reckon I can get it down in a year. Daan Human (Bok scrum coach) said to me if I can learn one sentence every day…

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“I can speak Irish and English, and if I can add Afrikaans in there, I think I will be a winner.

“It’s obviously going to be very, very personal for me. The nice thing as well is that because we haven’t beaten Ireland since 2016, it’s a big milestone for the group.

“And it’s about me controlling myself that week. But it is very personal for me, which I think is good because you care then – and I think when the players feel you care, they will go, ‘let’s do this’.

“I had all these conversations with Felix last week!”

Best in the world debate

Ireland has just gone on to defend their Six Nations title and despite being ranked second, behind the Springboks, in the world rankings, they have been labelled by many as the best team in the world.

Flannery believes his home country is certainly up there with the best but sees opportunities for the Springboks when the top two sides collide in a mini-series that will reveal the best side in the world.

“It’s a big challenge because genuinely when I watch them, I go Ireland are really one of the best sides in the world – so fit, so skilful, so many layers to their game… It’s not about just stopping one thing,” Flannery said.

“The thing that stood out for me is how Ireland hit the ground running immediately, and I think that is the benefit of the Irish system – the players come out of Leinster, and then you drop in the best players of the other three provinces, and they hit the ground running straight away.

“They looked so fit, so cohesive against France. Conversely, I thought France looked slow out of the blocks, and Ireland punished them.

“When we talk about defence is evolving, the micro details are about how the referees are refereeing the breakdown. If you watch Ireland very carefully, they have been one of the best teams around that – and that’s why teams find it hard to break them down defensively.

“They are the best at adapting to how the referees are officiating the breakdown. There is always going to be jackal space, and it is (about) making good decisions – you don’t have too many bodies in the breakdown, because it compromises your width and spacing.

“When you defend, you want to defend to get the ball back – not just to wait for the opposition to make a mistake. There are definitely opportunities there.”

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