Both England coach Andy Robinson and Springbok counterpart Jake White could be forgiven for thinking, as they head in to this weekend's Test match at Twickenham, that, however bad things are for them personally, at least they haven't got the other's job.
Robinson is on the brink of presiding over an England record-breaking run of eight successive defeats and has effectively been given this match and next weekend's second Test against South Africa, with which the world champions' conclude their November program and the 'Boks their tour, to save his job.
White too knows what it is to face calls to quit.
PHOTO: AP
Earlier this year his side lost five Tests in a row, including a 49-0 hammering by Australia in Brisbane, before the pride of South Africa's rugby-mad public was restored with a one-point win over next year's World Cup favorites New Zealand in Rustenburg in September.
South Africa went down to a record 32-15 defeat by Ireland in Dublin in last weekend's tour opener, but by then White had already tried to insure himself against the typical consequences of defeat for a Springbok coach.
With the full agreement of South Africa rugby officials, White has rested several senior players, such as Percy Montgomery and Os du Randt, ahead of next year's World Cup in France while the likes of forwards Schalk Burger and Bakkies Botha are injured.
Given their support for that policy, sacking White immediately after this tour would be as damning an indictment of South African rugby administrators as it would their coach.
In his quest to develop the depth he believes is necessary for the Springboks to mount a credible challenge at the World Cup, White has beefed up the team that lost last weekend.
There are 11 changes in all, six personnel and five positional, with one of the most significant seeing the tough-tackling Butch James coming in at flyhalf.
White wants James to target opposing No. 10 Charlie Hodgson, defensively vulnerable during Argentina's 25-18 victory at Twickenham last weekend which condemned England to a third straight home defeat.
White, like Robinson, has often been accused of picking players in the wrong positions. The fact that Bryan Habana is back in his familiar wing position after playing center against Ireland, is fresh ammunition for White's critics.
They include the Blue Bulls provincial union, which on Tuesday called for his resignation.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later
RSS