Brendan Venter: Saracens Director of Rugby, qualified physician and now YouTube extraordinaire. The interview, which saw him simply repeat the questions he was asked, now has 150 000 hits in just two days and has every major news source marvelling over his protests. You will have heard that two weeks ago, Venter was fined R250k by the European Rugby Cup (ERC) officials for suggesting they had “not prepared their referees sufficiently for interpreting the new breakdown laws”.

While this is a fairly candid statement one cannot blame him for his antics this week, where his responses suggest that he feels gagged by the officials. We’ll all agree that sportsmen rarely jump on the ‘reveal-all-our-secrets’ bandwagon, but it was rather refreshing to hear Venter offer a genuine opinion!

What of the inspiration? Mike Bassett: England Manager is a ‘mockumentary’ that explores the great British obsession with football, focusing on the most hapless coach in the history of professional sport.

In the film England’s coach Dave Dodds is quizzed by a reporter, but gives very little away.

Reporter: The team looks in pretty good shape?

Dave Dodds: Good shape, yeah. Yeah, good shape. Good team. Looking very good. Couldn’t be better.

R: Having said that we’re not actually playing very well at the moment?

DD: No, no. Terrible, terrible. Terrible shape, terrible team, looking very bad.

R: Then again the omens do look very good for England?

DD: Looking good, very good.
The Mirror have kindly transcribed Venter’s interview, which bares an uncanny resemblance to Dave Dodds’.

MG: How disappointed are you?

BV: Disappointed, very disappointed, very disappointed.

MG: What went wrong because you got off to such a wonderful start?

BV: Yah , interesting. I wonder what went wrong. Have to think about it.

MG: But what did go wrong?

BV: I’ll have to look and think. Think about it deeply. Very deeply.

MG: Did it hinge in the end on a bit of genius from Sireli Bobo?

BV: Bit of genius, bit of magic, Sireli Bobo, very interesting, very good yah. Three cheers for Sireli Bobo.

MG: What were you happy with about your side?

BV: Happy? Everything. Very good, very happy with my team.

MG: But you didn’t win did you Brendan?

BV: No, well, we didn’t win. It’s true.

MG: Why didn’t you win?

BV: Good question that, very good question. It’s important to win, it is. We must try harder, absolutely, yes.

MG: Do you think it’s a lack of effort?

BV: Lack of effort, lack of effort? I can’t think it’s a lack of effort.

MG: So what is it Brendan?

BV: What would it be, let me think. I’m not sure. I’ll have to think about that one. Think about it deeply.

MG: Ok thank you.

Sky’s interviewer, Mark Gillingham, admitted he was unsure what Venter’s agenda was.

“I had no idea what was going on,” said Gillingham. “I’d been down to training at Saracens earlier in the week for research. There was no inclination of what was going to happen. After the game I got a call to run down to do the post-match interview, and I did the interview, and, you know how it goes, at the time you’re listening but it doesn’t sink in because of the adrenaline. I thought it was a bit strange, and when we stopped, I turned around and saw the dropped jaws. Then it sank in.”

I think we can conclude with some assurance that Brendan Venter’s message had the desired affect: it was bereft of the slightest whiff of controversy (well, nearly). Maybe Peter de Villiers can pick his brain on how to cope with the press.

Venter will leave Sarries at the end of the month to return to South Africa and continue practicing as a doctor. He has also laughed off speculation linking him with a consultancy role with the Stormers next season.

[Source: Mirror; IOL]

Main image via the mirror.co.uk