RUGBY: JOHN O'SULLIVANhears why the ethos of team above individualism is the most important thing to the secondrow
“The leader can never close the gap between himself and the group. If he does, he is no longer what he must be. He must walk a tightrope between the consent he must win and the control he must exert.” – Vince Lombardi (Green Bay Packers)
VICTOR MATFIELD will know the words by rote as a disciple of the witticisms and philosophies of the iconic American football coach Vince Lombardi. They will perhaps carry an added resonance this evening when the 33-year-old leads out South Africa at the Aviva stadium in the absence of the injured John Smit.
The responsibility certainly won’t be an encumbrance as Matfield has discharged those duties on 11 previous occasions with the Springboks and in chaperoning the Bulls to successive championships in the Super 14 tournament. He may have a good line in patter but however inspirational the rhetoric it dwarves in comparison to his prodigious talent.
While he possessed those physical gifts from a young age, maturity has taught him the difference between confidence and arrogance. During his early career he appeared consumed by his own self worth, a narcissism fanned by fawning acolytes. Not everybody acquiesced, with the most striking dissenting voice that of the man with whom he has appeared a world record 56 times in the Springbok secondrow, Bakkies Botha, who once observed “I wanted to moer (hit) sometimes.”
Matfield’s unembroidered honesty in discussing those days illustrates the breadth of the journey he’s negotiated to becoming the ultimate team player. He once recalled: “I was a real stubborn bugger when I was in my early- to mid-20s; hard-headed and unplayable at times. Even though I was a youngster in the teams I represented I would still want to have an influence on important decisions and I wanted things done my way.
“On the surface it seemed like I had everything under control, but inside I was unsure of myself. Now I see captains like that and I cringe because they are what I was and it’s ugly.”
Matfield had the intelligence and unflinching desire to recognise his shortcomings in an at-times painful process. Life rather than rugby proved a more adept tutor. “‘Honesty, life experience and a balance of success and failure are the things that help you grow as a leader. I stress life experience because something like being a husband and father has taught me much about leading men. Patience, understanding, developing a sense of when to be hard and when to put an arm around a shoulder; you learn that all in a family context.
“I was wild as a youngster. I didn’t care about the discipline that made the great players what they were. But I don’t know if I’d be the man and player I am today if I didn’t go through that phase.”
A central influence in his maturation was Bulls director of rugby – he spent a season at the Leicester Tigers – Heyneke Meyer, who introduced his young protégé to some tough love and the Lombardi principles. Meyer challenged the player to shape up or look elsewhere, hoping Matfield would respond in a positive vein so he could discover the raw leadership qualities that were evident to his coach. The secondrow recalled in an interview: “Heyneke modelled a lot of his coaching principles on Lombardi’s and those principles have resonated strongly with me because they work.
“The ethos of team above individualism is the most important thing in my view. I’ve been fortunate to lead an exceptional group of players who all know we depend on each other for success. If I hadn’t learned that, I don’t think I’d be nearly as successful as I have been.
“What’s more is that he always encouraged his players to write down their strengths and weaknesses so they were aware of them and had a physical reference point they could go back to, to measure their progress. I did that and it’s helped me work through a lot of my struggles as a leader.”
Matfield’s diligence in preparing and analysing ahead of matches is easy to discern and he’s been known to sit up into the early hours of the morning if required poring over tapes. There’s also a pride enshrined in a work ethic that propels him to be the best. He receives most accolades for his work out of touch and at kick-offs but only the naïve would gloss over his athleticism and ball skills.
It’s hardly a surprise to learn that when asked about the best piece of advice he received, the Pretoria native replied: “Champions train when others rest.”
Some of his more earnest admirers suggest he is a wonderful mathematician, a human enigma machine, capable of breaking down opposing codes. Matfield offers a more pragmatic view: “People have called me an innovator and that humbles me. I think I have introduced some new ways of winning the ball but the other analysts are studying me on tape and so I’m always trying to develop new techniques.”
One person who has had first-hand experience of the South African’s prowess as a player is Paul O’Connell. Ireland’s forward totem will be missing today but on the four occasions Matfield has played against Ireland, O’Connell has been one of the opposing locks. The pair also clashed last summer when the Limerick man led the Lions tour to South Africa.
There is a mutual respect, Matfield conceding in a question and answer format the Irishman was his most difficult opponent, while O’Connell points out: “At lineout time, be it defence or attack, he has all his homework done. He’s excellent on kick-off reception, plays to his strengths and is able to put players through gaps as well as any outhalf. In secondrow terms he is the finished article. I haven’t spent much time with him but found him to be a decent fella: we did swap jerseys after the Lions matches.”
Today Matfield and Botha will play for the 57th time together as the Springbok secondrow pairing but even though they are conjoined on the team sheet – they will jointly raise funds for The Walter Sisulu Paediatric Cardiac Centre for Africa and The Children’s Hospital Trust, the fundraising arm of the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital in Cape Town in a series of testimonial-style events this year and next under the Blood Brothers banner – they are not particularly close off the pitch.
Matfield has explained in the past: “Bakkies and I are quite different. He’s happiest on the farm while I am much more of a city guy. We have a very good understanding and great respect for each other but we don’t go to each others homes or spend time together away from rugby. Bakkies is very quiet but on the field he unleashes the animal in him.”
Today at the Aviva Stadium, the Springboks take the first steps on a potential Grand Slam tour but do so with a lengthy casualty list (13) that suggests the word adversity is underselling the task. Matfield will relish the challenge and if the Springboks fail it won’t be because they failed to prepare under his watch. Injury permitting he will seek to enable South Africa’s successful defence of the World Cup in New Zealand next year before retiring from playing. Inundated with coaching proposals he is determined not to take the softer option of a place assisting in the Bulls hierarchy. Instead he has resolved “‘to earn his stripes at Boland as I did by spending two years at the Griquas as a player”
“Boland will allow me to do that out of the limelight. I don’t want an easy ride. It’s important to me I work my way up through the ranks. Nothing is decided yet but the prospect of coaching Boland is appealing. I will be able to build from the ground up and in doing so ingrain my philosophies and put in place some structures for sustained success.”
Lombardi would approve.
PROFILE VICTOR MATFIELD
Age: 33.
Height: 6ft 6ins.
Weight: 17st.
Educated: Pietersburg North, Pietersburg High, University of Pretoria.
Position: Secondrow
Provinces: Griquland West (2000) Blue Bulls (2001)
Springbok number: 705
Test debut: June 30th, 2001 v Italy in Port Elizabeth, aged 24
Last Test : September 4th, 2010 v Australia in Bloemfontein, aged 33
Total Tests : 101
Tour matches: 4
Total Springbok matches: 105
Win ratio: 63-36-2
Tours: Argentina, Ireland, Wales and England, 2000; France, Italy, England and USA, 2001; RWC in Australia, 2003; British Isles, Ireland Argentina, 2004; Argentina, Wales France, 2005; Ireland Scotland, 2007; RWC in France, Wales and Scotland, 2007; British Isles, 2008, France, Italy, Ireland England, 2009.
Springbok captain: 11 tests.
Honours: World Cup winner 2007, Super 14 2007, 2009, 2010.
SA Rugby Player of the Year nominee, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2007 2009.
SuperSport Try of the Year: 2004 (vs Australia in Durban).
Tri-Nations winner: 2007 and 2009.
