Brendan Venter says the Springboks need to embrace a performance-driven model in order to achieve consistent success in the long term.
Venter, who formed part of the Bok coaching team last year, highlighted in a column for Stuff.co.nz that the Springboks should be measured primarily on progress and performance.
‘As much as we want to blame [former coaches Heyneke] Meyer and [Allister] Coetzee for the Springboks’ slump in recent times – losing to Japan and suffering a record defeat to the All Blacks – we can’t cast them as scapegoats because [Rassie] Erasmus is now also struggling. And if he keeps on chopping and changing, because all he is looking at is results and winning at all costs, he will follow the same path as his predecessors.
‘The powers that be need to be patient with Erasmus, so that he can buck the trend and implement a long-term vision. The fact the Springboks have slipped to their joint-lowest world ranking of seventh doesn’t bother me. My issue is not with rankings and results because I measure progress and performance.’
Venter suggested that the demand for instant gratification from Springbok supporters made it virtually impossible to achieve longevity in success.
‘Erasmus is a very good coach, with strong pedigree but he was naive by stating publicly that he must be judged solely on results and transformation, which are purely numbers-driven.
‘We need to come up with some way of evaluating where we want to go and what progress would look like from a Springbok perspective. Being results-based is the polar opposite of a performance-driven mentality and doesn’t translate to a high-performance environment.’
Photo: Andres Larrovere/AFP Photo
