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Matt Proudfoot: 'Good grief, it scares the hell out of me'
It was a Rugby World Cup ending with a difference on Wednesday night for Matt Proudfoot compared to 2019. Four years ago, the scrum coach celebrated for weeks after the Springboks were crowned world champions in Yokohama, the party igniting in Japan for Rassie Erasmus and co and carrying on back in South Africa for ages.
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In sharp contrast, the Namibia team that the assistant coach only started working for in mid-July had their campaign ended after four games in 18 days in France and he will be on a flight to his Cape Town home on Thursday before some of their Pool A rivals even play their third match of the tournament.
Such is the luck of the draw when you are a tier-two nation with a low ranking. However, despite being the first team at the finals to be sent packing, don’t write off the Namibians’ four losses as a failure.
For Proudfoot, the ex-Scotland prop, these past few weeks spent with the African underdogs taking on Italy, New Zealand, France and Uruguay respectively in Saint-Etienne, Toulouse, Marseille and Lyon were the memory of a lifetime.
That’s quite the boast when you consider his Springboks heritage and the fact that but for Eddie Jones getting sacked and having his staff dismantled, the 51-year-old set-piece specialist would instead be located at Le Touquet-Paris-Plage priming England for their October 7 pool finale versus Samoa in Lille.
The Allister Coetzee verdict on the suspension given to Johan Deysel for his red-carded tackle on Antoine Dupont… and his take on the follow-up Namibia red card versus Uruguay. #URUvNAM #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/yv110C66sy
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 27, 2023
It was in the tunnel at Parc Olympique Lyonnais when RugbyPass exclusively caught up with Proudfoot after Namibia had come so agonisingly close to securing their first-ever World Cup victory.
Their dogged display had them in front of the Uruguayans for 53 minutes of their pool fixture but, hampered by a second-half red card and two yellows, they were eventually overtaken and lost 26-36.
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Proudfoot was chuffed with what he witnessed. “The guys are unbelievably talented; they are warriors and I’m proud of them,” he enthused, stopping for a six-minute solo chat before heading away on the Namibian team bus for the final time at France 2023.
“I can’t speak high enough of the players. It’s up to us as coaches and administrators to put a programme together that can maximise their abilities.
“I just hope that can happen for these players; they are great players and they gave everything. Thirteen players at one stage in the game, so I’m proud of them, proud of each one of them.”
It was Allister Coetzee who gave Proudfoot his introduction into Test level coaching, recruiting him for the Springboks at the start of 2016.
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That job didn’t go well for the head coach, as he was replaced by Erasmus in late 2017, but when he needed a helping hand with Namibia just months out from the 2023 finals, the call went into his old assistant and the timing was perfect as Proudfoot had just finished up a short universities stint at Maties in Stellenbosch.
“The experience has been incredible. Coming in so late and having the opportunity to work with these guys and see how hard they work, it has been humbling for me. Just incredible,” he explained.
“I don’t think you can compare apples and pears because it is different environments. I just speak for what I have experienced with these guys.
“In the Springboks, it’s a machine. It’s a massive machine, it’s a top-tier nation performing incredibly well. You can see how well-resourced, how well coached, the amount of players South Africa has.
“What I was looking for in my life was a different challenge and I have grown as a coach. It has been great to coach with my dear friend Allister again. Just the people I have met. The World Cup is special.
“It’s really, really special and I would just like to thank World Rugby for this, it has been phenomenal. It has been absolutely phenomenal. I don’t think you can put a foot wrong.
“I thought Japan was incredible as a host nation. France has been absolutely incredible and as I get on a plane tomorrow [Thursday], my parting remarks would be just how humbled by the awesome players that Namibia has got.
“It bodes well for them. If they need me I will jump in and I will do whatever I can. I have been incredibly humbled by the experience.
“The tier two nations have done incredibly well. World Rugby has been so proactive and that needs to continue. There needs to be better relationships built and more competitions for the tier two nations. They have been incredible.
“There was a stat on Wednesday that our breakdown was the third quickest (3.42secs on average per ruck) out of all breakdowns; that was the stat that came out (after playing Italy, the All Blacks and France).
“That’s remarkable for a tier two nation competing with performance nations in such a competitive area and we are sitting third on the table, so it can be done.
“These players are incredibly talented. That has been my biggest experience, how talented they are and how proud they are of their country. It has been a humbling experience for me to have the privilege to work with these players. I have been humbled.
“It was brilliant. I had a coaching stint at one of the universities and I was able to take some time off and spend time with my daughter (after working in England), and Allister asked me to jump in here so that has been great.
“I have got a few opportunities lined up for the start of the year and I’ll jump back on the ship again then. Looking forward to it but I have learned so much as a coach through this experience with Namibia and it has been brilliant. Brilliant.
"They had to a minor cut operation on it…"
– The strange Rugby World Cup story of the alleged spider bite that ruled forward Johan Retief out of Wednesday's Namibia match versus Uruguay in Lyon. #URUvNAM #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/78hgQ86Rqi
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 27, 2023
“These campaigns always take a lot because you have got to invest everything,” he added. “I’m incredibly disappointed (with the results) and I will start the introspection about where I could have done better and what I could have done better.
“I feel I could have maybe prepared the players better somehow and I’ll figure it out because I feel a responsibility to the players and I want them to be the best they can.
“That’s my role, so I will go and reflect over that. I will go and spend Christmas reflecting and look at a plan and come back again. I love coaching, I love being in this environment. It’s brilliant. Rugby around the world is going to go from strength to strength.
“You see the way Portugal is playing, Georgia is playing, Romania is playing. Chile is incredible what they have put together. You still haven’t started talking about Canada, USA. Good grief, it scares the hell out of me.
“I just think rugby is going from strength to strength and I’m really grateful for what World Rugby is doing. I’ll look to get on the ship again next year and see what I can contribute.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Great piece Nick, plenty to chew on. Loved this ‘biases’ line from Geoff, shows he is a thinker - “If you asked me for a shortlist of coaches who appealed to my biases, he would be on it.” I think Schmidt is towing a similar line to Rennie in regards to OS players, he is publicly saying he prefers local talent, but almost certainly will be fighting to have the likes of skelton in the team. Interesting to hear the backroom on the rebels and what a cockup that is, just when you think RA admin has hit rock bottom it digs deeper. Other bit that caught my eye was his skills focus on things like passing from 7s at the base of the lineout, great little details. but also scary that a SR level 8 didn’t know how to operate within a lineout - telling!
20 Go to commentsThoroughly enjoyed this thanks Nick. ‘The lineout starts on the ground…’ wish I’d thought of that line when discussing Will’s place in the Wallabies.
20 Go to commentsShannon Frizell’s second year is optional is how I heard it. Given nothing has been confirmed yet it gets more and more likely he signs to return next year. Cant wait to see Finau doing more work on Internal players.
28 Go to commentsBlindside flankers should be hard hitting defenders, good lineout jumper with height, and a hard worker who hits and cleans rucks. If he can be a destructive ball carrier it’s a bonus but not a necessity. Samipeni Fineau and Cullen Grace are excellent at those core skills and my choice at blindside. Brad Shields is dismissed because he is 33 but not sure why that should be a consideration for this season. Shields too does these core roles well. Just don’t pick an 8 and shift him to 6 like the wingers on The Breakdown suggest, as if 6 and 8 are interchangeable. They are not. An 8 is first and foremost a dynamic ball carrier, not necessarily a destructive defender as a 6 should be. Devon Flanders and Akira Ioane are #8 s forced to play blindside because their teams have better options at 8 than them. Do not pick them at blindside
28 Go to commentsSaints obviously didn’t get the memo, or needed an ego boost?
1 Go to commentsReturning to the Chiefs would be another good change that could only put him into a better position to succeed in black
6 Go to commentsSimply outrageous and demonstrably false to say Finau’s tackle on Lynagh was “2 seconds late” In reality it was probably 0.5 seconds after he passed the ball. If you carry the ball at speed to within 5m of the defensive line you can expect to get tackled. Finau could have pulled out of it and not absolutely flattened him for sure, but there was going to be contact either way. He seems like a high risk selection at the moment, but there is no one else like him in NZ at the moment. His big tackles make the highlight reels but he is also a great athlete, very fast for such a big man, spent most of his days at lock so also very strong in the line out.
28 Go to commentsYes, Finau looks like the best option. Blackadder is not big enough for an international 6 - he should join the queue at 7. Frizzell had the power and heft and line-out height to play lock, so maybe that is where the ABs should be looking, not at a 7 who’s not big enough for 6, but at a lock who might have the agility to play 6, like Scott Barrett, or… Natai Ah Kuoi, who absolutely fits that bill, but seldom gets to play 6 because the Chiefs have so many loosies.
28 Go to commentsPaul Quinn was a National MP.
6 Go to commentsNo need to worry about losers’ mentality hysteria from Australia. Finau has all the attributes, I don't recall a high or no arms tackle from him, and his timing has been controlled very well since the round 3 Lynagh tackle. It's an easy decision for Razor, the only question is who should back him up from the bench. He can't be overworked like Squire was in his first full season.
28 Go to comments“Reds coach Les Kiss saying later: “I think every player has the right to feel safe.” Maybe Rugby is the wrong sport for people who want to feel safe..?
28 Go to commentsNot sure what the context was, but the highlights showed one scrum against Aussie where the baby Blacks were going backwards at a pace. The pack has been the issue since 2017, so they might be in for another reality check soon. This tournament should really have been two rounds, would have learned a lot more.
1 Go to commentsPeter Lakai has a ‘lot of size’? Since when? To Kirifi maybe. I think Laidlaw clearly saw he’s too small for 6 or 8, so plonked him at 7. Has potential to be Ardies understudy in black for 7.
6 Go to commentsDalton for skipper?
16 Go to commentsOh he's ‘Irish qualified’ isn't that convenient. If Ireland get any more Kiwis (and Aussie) in their backline they might need to run out in green and black kit soon. How is the supposed best rugby system in the world in need of trawling for journeyman Kiwi players?
2 Go to commentsCallum Grace is playing well now that he's finally back in his best position. But given it was Razor who somehow thought Grace was dynamic enough to be a No8 when he's clearly not, Im not sure he’d backtrack on that. Finau is risky with his style, and there's almost no point picking Blackadder when he can’t stay on the field more than five minutes.
28 Go to commentsThe team on paper has more supposed ‘stars’ than a lot of the sides they’re losing to. They’ve got the Razor-blues and aren't playing for Penney. He should jump before he's pushed.
1 Go to commentsProof. That if you lay dramatic instrumental hip hop music over a video of a skinny pale white kid running an unopposed zig zag on a training ground filled with rookies - it’ll look next-level epic!
13 Go to commentsIf they win the challenge Cup then it will have all been worth it. If they don’t, then maybe he should go. Lots of ppl seem to think very highly of him as a coach, but maybe he would be better working under someone. Any top sides looking for forwards coaches rn?
1 Go to commentsJason Ryan knows his craft as forwards coach and I'm sure he’ll hold sway with Scott Robertson of who he feels worthy of selection…his credentials validated when he put a 7xcaps between them front row...Ethan, Samisoni and Lomax on Ellis Park…Go the AB's…
28 Go to comments