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Ex-Springbok coach Gary Gold on the 'hurt' of losing his job at Bath
By Jon Newcombe
Plenty of water has flowed under Pulteney Bridge in Bath since Gary Gold dramatically left his position as director of rugby in December 2013.
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At the time, Bath were sitting third in the Premiership, on the back of an unbeaten nine-game run in all competitions, but all was not well behind the scenes.
Having been head coach for the 2012/13 season, Gold was moved upstairs when one of his assistants, Mike Ford, was promoted to the role in the summer.
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Gold and Ford had enjoyed a brief relationship before their time together at Bath, with the pair almost working miracles to keep Newcastle up.
But it didn’t take long before there was talk of a power struggle at The Rec, principally over tactics. Gold was seen as a pragmatist whilst Ford, who despite coming into union from rugby league with a defence background, was looking to implement his innovative ideas around attack.
Whilst Gold spoke about how he’d left Bath on amicable terms when the shock news was announced, 11 years later, he admits that the manner of his departure ‘hurt’ during a discussion about his career on the latest episode of RPTV’s brilliant Boks Office series.
“It didn’t end well, I suppose every one of us who has been in the game a handful of years has one of those stories. It was a bit of an unfortunate situation.
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“It’s probably why you hear so often when coaches get a position and one of the things they insist on is bringing in their own people. I was able to do that at Bath as well, and I took a couple of really good guys with me and, unfortunately, I took a guy who was ambitious, very ambitious, and that’s fine as well. A very good coach.”
Rumour has it that Ford went to owner Bruce Craig to put himself forward as the man to lead Bath forward. Ford did an excellent job, implementing the diamond-shaped attacking system, which revolved around his son, George, and stellar talents like Kyle Eastmond and Jonathan Joseph. They reached their first Premiership final in 11 years under him in 2015, losing to Saracens, before he was forced out. This time it was the fall-out from the Sam Burgess saga that was to blame.
As a class act, Gold named no names in discussing his time at Bath but he wishes things had been handled differently.
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“Come to me, have a sit down with me and say, ‘I don’t actually enjoy working with you anymore, this is what I think is wrong, this is what I think is right, let’s part our ways amicably and this is what I want to do, I think I can do a better job than you’. Then at least you know where you stand.
“I don’t see that as stabbing somebody, I see that as mutual disagreement, and that’s definitely going to happen in the world of rugby, and it does often happen, then you don’t hold grudges and you can move on and if you have an off-the-field relationship. you can probably continue with that.
“It is just the way you go about doing things that wasn’t that pleasant. It hurts and, ja, it’s not good, but a lot of people go through that.”
Gold couldn’t stress enough how important it is to talk things through in private as a coaching team and not let any conflicts filter through to the players.
“If a person does have an agenda inevitably their agenda is because they don’t agree with your philosophies so they will go to players and give different messages and that’s very dangerous, that’s dangerous even in a healthy environment,” he said.
“It’s critically important when you’re the head coach, and I know when Nick was the Boks coach in knowing Solly (Alan Solomons) and Heyneke (Meyer), I know one of the things you insisted on is being on the same page. Have a disagreement in the boardroom behind the scenes, but when you get out onto the field, make sure the players get the same message.
“I don’t think the game is so unbelievably difficult that you can’t find common ground on a lot of things that you want to do.”
After Bath, Gold coached the Kobelco Steelers in Japan and the Sharks in South Africa before returning to England with Worcester.
The 57-year-old then took charge of the US Eagles, leading them to a record high of 12th in the world rankings during his four years in charge. Once the door closed on that job, Gold had a season as defence coach with the Bulls. He left that role in September of last year.
Currently, he is spending time with family in Cape Town, no doubt waiting for his next opportunity.
Watch the highly acclaimed five-part documentary Chasing the Sun 2, chronicling the journey of the Springboks as they strive to successfully defend the Rugby World Cup, free on RugbyPass TV (*unavailable in Africa)
