BRENDAN Venter, director of rugby at London club Saracens had them bumfoozled the other day when he gave a totally non-commital interview to Martin Gillingham on Sky News after losing to French side Club Metro.
Some gems from the interview:
Gillingham: "How disappointed are you?"
Venter: "Disappointed, very disappointed, very disappointed."
Gillingham: "But what did go wrong?"
Venter: "I'll have to look and think. Think about it deeply. Very deeply."
Gillingham: "Did it hinge in the end on a bit of genius from Sireli Bobo?"
Venter: "But of genius, bit of magic, Sireli Bobo, very interesting, very good, ja. Three cheers for Sireli Bobo. Very good. Very good."
And so it went on. It turns out Venter was jerking the chain of the European Rugby Cup administrators who had recently hit him with a huge fine for criticising the referee in an earlier fixture against Leinster. The administrators are now "disappointed" by his recent parody, which is based on a scene from the comedy film, Mike Bassett, England Manager.
Venter returns to South Africa in a month. Will he team up with Piet de Snor? I put it to De Snor in an exclusive interview:
CC: "Will Brendan Venter have a role to play in Springbok preparation for the World Cup?"
De Snor: "Why don't we go to the nearest ballet shop, get some tutus and get a dancing shop going? No eye-gouging, no tackling, no nothing and we will enjoy it."[13]
CC: "Do you think Brendan has been unfairly treated by the European rugby authoriies?"
De Snor: "Look, when you want to run with the big dogs, you have to lift a leg."
CC: "How do you rate our chances against New Zealand in the Tri-Nations as a run-up to the World Cup?"
De Snor: ''I've got my own observations about the last two Tests, and I can't say it in public. But we do have a World Cup in New Zealand next year, and maybe it was the right thing for them to win the games so they can attract more people to the games next year.''
CC: "Are we developing the appropriate game plan?"
De Snor: We just need to add a component to our game. We need players making decisions and playing the situation. It's been very difficult. Players are so used to playing onto each other, its a new thing to be making split-second decisions. With this kind of game comes responsibility. I know its hard because they then have to take responsibility for what they do. But whatever decision they make, I will support the players even though I won't always agree with that decision. We didn't say we will win or lose, we have no control over whether we win or lose. But we don't work to lose."
CC: "Are you happy that you're getting your ideas across on rugby?"
De Snor: "I am a small- brain person. A small-brain person doesn't need to go sit down and study over what he's going to say to people. It comes naturally."
CC: "Do you believe we have adapted sufficiently to changes in the laws of rugby?"
De Snor: "Daar kom die Alabama!"
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