McGeechan 'impressed' with Boks
Sun, 15 Jun 2008 21:26
British and Irish Lions head coach Ian McGeechan has been "impressed" with the quality of the rugby produced by South Africa during their two-nil series win over Six Nations champions Wales in the past fortnight.
McGeechan and Lions tour manager Gerald Davies undertook a 12-day recce trip in preparation for the 2009 Lions Tour to South Africa, which included watching the Springboks beat Wales 43-17 in Bloemfontein and 37-21.
McGeechan, who coached the 1997 version of the Lions to a 2-1 series win over the Boks, admitted that the class of 2008 is of a far higher quality.
"Quite impressive, they have got some talent there," McGeechan said of the current group of South Africa players, adding that in 1997 they had been into professional rugby for just 12 months.
"It's obvious that they have got that mix between experience and young players coming through," he said of Peter de Villiers' 2008 team.
"I was impressed with the coaching team.
"I know Dick Muir, he's been to Wasps and looked at how we do things at Wasps and I also spoke to the South African coaching team as well, whilst I have been here and got involved with the Welsh coaching team, so from my point of view it's been brilliant."
McGeechan and Davies said South Africa can prepare themselves for the most meticulously planned British and Irish Lions tour yet, when bring the best of the four Home Unions - England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland - to South African for a 10-match tour next year.
The pair's trip to the Republic was mainly to identify hotels, facilities and training grounds for the tourists to use next year.
However, the timing of their visit was planned to coincide with the Wales Tests to ascertain what type of player may be needed by the Lions for next year's tour.
"We had the intention of getting a first view of the Boks - particularly as they were playing against Wales," McGeechan said, adding that they will also watch the Springboks in the Tri-Nations later this year and during their tour of the United Kingdom at the end of the year.
They visited all the stadiums where matches will be played next year with the exception of the venue for the first match against a Highveld XV at Royal Bafokeng.
This weekend's Youth Day has seen to that with the stadium being closed.
"But we'll have a look there when we come back in August for South Africa's three Tri-Nations tests," McGeechan said.
The 2009 tour will be his fourth as a coach.
The 61-year-old McGeechan has a long and successful association with the Lions.
He played in all four Tests for the unbeaten 1974 Lions to South Africa and also made the 1977 side as a player. He was the Lions' head coach in 1989, 1993 and 1997 and was the assistant coach under Clive Woodward in 2005.
Unlike many British supporters who see it as a negative that the Lions play all their matches and Tests away from home, he feels this can be turned into a positive.
"The Lions are so different from anything else. We also no longer have tours lasting seven weeks in which 10 matches are played. It is in the uniqueness of the tour that our planning must reflect and address the challenges.
"We have to consider the time factor, venues, keeping the players fresh and ensure that they have the opportunity to play well in all environments," he said, the last being partly in reference to the altitude problem.
"In stead of it being a negative, we have to become part of South African rugby for the duration of the tour. That, and the uniqueness of the tour, makes a positive, in fact."
Unlike their last tour, the Lions will not play a warm-up match before departure to South Africa.
"We will probably have a week in the UK and then another week in South Africa before the first match to prepare," he said.
