Kitch’s tough training regime created the mental toughness Boks needed

Looking back exactly 25 years on from the World Cup that provided the defining highlight to his own rugby career and those of his teammates, Kobus Wiese is under no doubt - credit must go to the late coach Kitch Christie for creating the unstoppable mindset that saw the Springboks prevail.

“Kitch was a phenomenal coach and you just have to see what he achieved in what was a relatively short time-span to realise that,” said Wiese in looking back at South Africa’s success in their debut global tournament.

“Kitch wasn’t recognised in Pretoria. He coached the Northern Transvaal B side. He was a legend at his club Harlequins, where he achieved phenomenal success, but he had to move in order to coach at the level he wanted to coach. And here you have to give Doc Luyt (Louis Luyt) credit. It was when he was Transvaal president that he approached Kitch.

“And what Kitch did with Transvaal (now the Golden Lions) was astounding. In the space of two or three years we won everything. We won the Lions Cup, we won the Currie Cup twice, the first of those being the first Currie Cup win that Transvaal had achieved in over two decades, and we also won the Super 10. He then led the Boks to World Cup success and never lost a match as Bok coach. You can’t argue against that record.”

WHY KOBUS NO LONGER LOVES GOLF

It was the tough attitude that Christie took towards the players and their training that Wiese believes prepared the Boks for the extraordinary obstacles they had to hurdle at the World Cup, including the rather bizarre circumstances that surrounded the semifinal against France, which was played exactly 25 years ago today (Wednesday).

“I used to love golf but I am not a keen golfer any more and I reckon there is a reason for that - the many hours that we spent on the Wanderers Golf Course before that World Cup being driven by Kitch and Ray Mordt, who was our fitness trainer,” recalls the former Bok lock.

“Ray is a very nice man. Anyone who has ever met him will tell you that. But he wasn’t when he got the whistle and took charge of a fitness session. There were many occasions during the build-up to that World Cup where I would pray to the Good Lord to come and take me away, ‘take me away right now’. It was that tough.

“But it built fitness and strength, and more than that, perhaps most importantly, it built character and mental strength. It gave us the confidence to go out and win the World Cup. Not many people gave us a chance. It was our first World Cup, we’d just come back into international rugby after isolation, we were behind the rest of the world.

“We were playing at home and that was a reason for optimism, but I think that the prevalent attitude among the supporters and the media was that we would do well if we just got deep into the tournament before being knocked out. Everyone was hoping we would put up a good show and as the hosts not embarrass ourselves. We were playing the world champions in our first game, it was going to be a tough tournament for us.

“We didn’t see it though in the context that we’d be happy if we didn’t make the final but had just performed creditably along the way. We saw it as an opportunity to win the World Cup, and the training regime that Kitch and Ray put us through put us firmly on the page that we are here to win this thing.

“Kitch never used to tell us how long the sessions were going to be, and that probably helped us deep in the tournament, when we had to play extra time against New Zealand in the final. You as a journalist would have attended those sessions, there was nothing strange about it if they extended for three hours. But it was not every day, everything was planned very well.”

COACH MADE RIGHT CALLS FOR TEAM DYNAMIC

Wiese believes that the right calls were made by the coach through his management team to contribute to a winning effort.

“One of the best attributes of Kitch was that he was an honest person and an honest selector, and the players responded to him because of that. He was also very good at understanding people and what made them tick. That was how he got the best out of you,” he said.

“To this day there is still debate over Kitch’s decision to leave out Tiaan Strauss. Francois Pienaar and Tiaan were very good players for different reasons and I would be the first to admit that Tiaan was very unlucky not to play at that World Cup. But the decision wasn’t about how good or bad Tiaan was as a player. Kitch knew exactly how good he was, but he felt that the team dynamics demanded he make a different decision,

“It was a very brave selection to make because if we had not won the World Cup, Kitch would have been slaughtered,” says Wiese.

MENTAL TOUGHNESS REQUIRED TO SCALE DURBAN EVEREST

Of course the Boks did win the World Cup, and the mental toughness inspired by Christie’s attitude, and the togetherness of what became a well knit squad, got the Boks through some testing obstacles along the road to glory. None more so than that semifinal against France.

“We went to Durban for that semifinal a bit battered and bruised,” recalls Wiese.

“We had a comfortable win over Samoa in the quarterfinal, but it was hell of a physical. The islanders are the most amazing people. I was fortunate to go on a Barbarians tour to the south sea islands and what an awesome experience that was. The hospitality was amazing, they really are the friendliest people in the world.

“But while the Fijians are more noted for Sevens, and are passionate about that, the Tongans and in particular the Samoans worship the conventional game, and they are incredibly passionate in their approach. They just keep coming at you for 80 minutes regardless of the score, and we used to say that we must just expect the tackle to come in after the ball had been passed.

“So we went into that semifinal with lots of niggling injuries, and some weren’t so niggly and were more serious. We all know about Juba (fullback Andre Joubert) and the pain he was in and how he had to spend time in the compression chamber so that he could play with a fractured hand. But prop Balie Swart had a torn rib cartilage, and anyone who knows rugby knows how painful and debilitating that it.

“Balie really shouldn’t have played in that game but he just made it clear to team manager Morne du Plessis and to Kitch that he was going to play no matter what. Nothing was going to keep him off the field. That was the type of character that team had. We were from different provinces but we were one team with one goal and we became like family. That is why we are still such good friends years later.”

DEFINING MOMENT

Wiese believes the mental strength forged on the training fields in the build-up to the World Cup came most to the fore once the semifinal arrived. It was that game that was going to determine whether the Bok World Cup challenge was a success, as making the final and being part of the tournament on the last day would be an achievement and something that the players most desperately wanted. Many players have said subsequently that it is the semifinal, rather than the final itself, that brings the most nerves during a World Cup, and Wiese attests to that.

“What was noticeable during that tournament was that as we got momentum so the pressure increased, it was like every time we won and got closer to playing in the final the moment got bigger and the expectation of the nation grew further,” said Wiese.

“It is strange how when you get to a semifinal your mind suddenly starts playing tricks on you. You know there is nothing more you can do, you’ve done hundreds of drills, there is no more you can do physically, and yet your mind starts asking questions - ‘Should we have done a few more scrums, what if the weather isn’t good, shouldn’t we have prepared better for that?’ But the truth is there was no more we could have done. We were prepared as well as we could have been prepared.

“The truth of the matter is that for an athlete all the blood, sweat and tears you go through to get yourself to a certain point mentally toughens you up. And it needs to be like that as the pressure is immense when you get to a semifinal.

“To top that we were playing the French. You are never sure what to expect from France. They can be great on the day, they can be awful on the day. I don’t think they even know what team is going to pitch on a specific day. That’s just the French mentality.”

THE BIGGEST DELUGE IN 150 YEARS

As it stood, the Boks knew they were in for a searching examination. That, as Wiese says, was even if it was a dry day and dry field, and everything was in balance. As it turned out, nothing was in balance when the Boks woke up to the bleakest winter’s day KZN has possibly ever seen on that June morning 25 years ago.

“More rain fell on that day than had in a single day in 150 years, or so they told me. The field was waterlogged and the game was going to start late. A few hours late. You know what psychological toll that takes on a player. We’d warm up and then hear that the game had been postponed. Then we’d hear it was going to kick off and we’d start to warm up again. That was a real killer psychologically and we already had the pressure of playing in a World Cup semifinal.

“And then comes the news that there is a chance the game won’t be played at all and that because we had had players sent off during the tournament we might have to surrender our chances of progressing to the final without even playing. The water levels on the field were such that a player might drown in a ruck.

“The IRB decided that the referee, Derek Bevan, would have the final call. If that game wasn’t able to continue because of player safety he’d be within his rights to call it off. We would have been out of the World Cup. Thanks to Mr Bevan, the game did take place. We took the field in conditions that were atrocious. To play for a place in the final was nothing short of a nightmare.

“I say this with great respect and fondness in my heart to my teammates and with huge respect to them all - that was the day when we all, the players and the management, proved our mental toughness beyond belief.”