The rumour mill has now become fact as Victor Matfield confirmed he had been approached by new Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer about a possible return to the rugby field.
Matfield has reportedly been training with the Bulls since he played his last competitive match in the Springboks’ defeat to Australia in last year’s World Cup quarterfinal in Wellington (excluding his jaunt with the Barbarians). Matfield showed his class against the Wallabies. He was peerless in the air and led from the front in a match South Africa contrived to lose (blame Lawrence all you want … he was bad, and probably won’t ever referee in South Africa again, but the Springboks let some tries go begging).
And that is how it should stay. One of the problems of the Peter de Villiers era was certain players hung around for too long, with the prime example being John Smit. In retrospect, the ideal time for him to have departed the Springbok scene was after the British Lions series in 2009, but that dream of retaining the world title kept him going, along with messers Du Preez, Botha, and Matfield. Once De Villiers had decided to go with Smit, there was no other choice but where else would a player the calibre of Bismarck du Plessis have been left on the sidelines?
Victor Matfield is easily a member of the pantheon of Springbok greats. He won everything he possibly could have, took line-out play to the next level and led both his provincial and national sides with distinction. Highly respected internationally, when Matfield walked away from rugby last year it felt like the right time. What else was there to do? What point was there to carry on?
A mark of a great sportsman is knowing when to walk away, an especially difficult task. Deciding to not play the game that has defined your life and professional career anymore is a watershed moment similar to a lawyer walking away from the court room or a doctor unable to treat the sick. It takes guts, and clarity of mind. So when Matfield reappeared as an analyst for Supersport, the next phase of his career had begun. He isn’t a natural (in English anyway… Afrikaans might present a different story), but who doubts his ability to rise to the occasion and become an irreplaceable part of Supersport‘s broadcast team?
With De Villiers’s departure as coach, now is the opportunity for fresh hands to puncture the air in the search for responsibility and honour where the Green and Gold is concerned. There are still veterans like Bryan Habana (who, even with significant doubt from my side, has impressed this season), Schalk Burger and Jean de Villiers available to lend the new some old knowledge. Victor Matfield has nothing left to prove, and I hope it stays that way.
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