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- Former Western Province and Sharks lockout Ross Skeate talks about why he thinks SA Rugby made a mistake pulling the Springboks out of the Rugby Championship and why he’s not in favor of SA teams heading north.
- The emerging ex-Springbok reveals his regret in terms of never having played for the senior team and how a move to France, a country he has lived in for nearly a decade, could well have thwarted his Test Match ambitions.
- He also shares his views on the boardroom battles that exist within SA Rugby and how the game is “too political”.
Sport24 asked: What has kept you busy in your career after playing?
Ross Skeate: Since I played for the Sharks in Durban, I have lived in France for nine years. I am now fully settled on the French side of Geneva in Lac Leman. I have lived in France for so long that I am probably half French and half South African. I have a specialty coffee truck where I roast my own beans and in terms of food, everything revolves around local and organic food. The confinement hasn’t changed much for me and with a young daughter, my wife and I spend a lot of time at home anyway. The first blockade was more worrying from a commercial point of view because it meant many delays. At the moment, it is almost as if I know that the confinement exists, but fortunately it does not apply to me or my business … I also worked on a project with Joe Van Niekerk and spent six months living with him in Costa Rica. Joe is amazing and I think we are all spiritual without realizing it. Religion can be extremely beautiful and a pretty nice path to the ultimate goal, spirituality, but the former can be quite restrictive. I am not a Buddhist, but I would consider myself extremely spiritual. What I love about Buddhism is the idea of karma and reincarnation. I also believe that love is the root of all religions and that is something that we often forget. When we get caught up in the dogma of religion, we forget about love.
Sport24 asked: How would you summarize your playing career?
Ross Skeate: Mine was a very colorful and interesting race. There were a lot of hits and misses, but it taught me a lot. Throughout my career, I have played for the Western Province, the Sharks and Southern Kings in South Africa and four teams in France. I was with Toulon when we were building the success they would have in later years. We had the full list in my first year with the likes of Jerry Collins, Tana Umaga, and Jonny Wilkinson. On the reverse of the coin, I played for Agen who was fighting for relegation. It was stressful and it took the fun out of everything. It ended up being a very difficult two years in terms of rugby. I also played for Grenoble and ended my career in Aix-en-Provence in the south … The French always tend to get carried away, but it’s good to see that the national team is finally getting some results. In France, the amount of rugby talent they have is insane. As for the game, there are tons of talent but, in my opinion, his biggest problem was that his training was always a couple of years behind international standards and I guess he still is. Their structures and techniques were way behind the times and when I was playing in Grenoble the coaches only started to introduce technical things that I had already done in my early days with Western Province.
Sport24 asked: Which coaches did you enjoy the most and least?
Ross Skeate: When I first came to France, there were one or two coaches running the show and they were stuck in an old French way. To give an example, the coach wanted to do a full contact captain’s run to cheer on the boys before the game the next day. It was very strange for me as I came from a very professional Stormers setup playing Super Rugby … I enjoyed Tana Umaga as a coach in terms of her style, love of the game and her technical knowledge which is huge. I worked with Rassie Erasmus during my time in Western Province. I was with him when he took over at the Stormers and I suppose he has matured a lot as a coach since then. Rassie is technically very astute, but it took me a little time to get used to his attention to detail. I don’t know if it’s still there, but it was crazy. Rassie’s attention to detail was to the next level and his success with South Africa did not surprise me. I was very happy that the Springbok boys won the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan. They were a group of boys who, 18 months before the event, had confronted him. When they arrived at the tournament, they had been programmed by the media and by the fans. In South Africa, you lose a match and you are the worst team that Springbok rugby has produced. The Boks were not favorites heading into the World Cup, but they did it and crushed England in the final. From the outside, it looks like a nice set of gear. They have developed a winning team culture that Rassie has cared about.
Sport24 asked: Do you regret not playing for the Springboks?
Ross Skeate: I definitely regret not having played international rugby or at least being selected for a larger Springbok team. Sometimes I think I shot myself arriving in France too early. However, when he was playing, it was a difficult time to be a second rower in South Africa with the great shadows of Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield lurking. Obviously, I am a bit biased because I will always choose the second rowers from the southern hemisphere over their northern counterparts. I think the locks are better in the south. Botha and Matfield were very complimentary in terms of skills and they were the perfect match. Andries Bekker was also one of the best athletes I ever played with. He was about eight feet and could run like crazy wind. When we played together he was like this skinny Englishman with this huge Dutchman. However, for me, John Eales is the best second rower of all time. He was my childhood hero and I was lucky to meet him when I was in Paris.
Sport24 asked: What is your opinion on South Africa’s proposed move north?
Ross Skeate: I have to be honest; I don’t like the idea of South African teams leaving Super Rugby and I am against the idea of South Africa joining the Six Nations. Maybe I’m too attached to the old Super Rugby and Rugby Championship formats. I think it will be a shame that we are not playing the All Blacks and Wallabies as often as we do. SA Rugby obviously has its reasons for looking to alter competition structures and explore new markets, but I am saddened to hear that South African teams are heading north. Sucks that Super Rugby has changed so drastically. There are clearly financial considerations behind the decisions and there is potentially more money in Europe for the Springboks and South African rugby. Here in Europe, South Africa is revered for the rugby nation that it is. There is no doubt that South African teams will be well received, but I think that adapting to the weather conditions and refereeing will be a challenge … In terms of the withdrawal of the Springboks Rugby Championship this season, I think it is a big mistake . It could be 20 months without test rugby for the Springboks and that doesn’t make any sense to me. As with any high-level sport, you must do things consistently and with a high level of intensity. Test rugby and Springboks go together like bread and butter. I think it would be a mistake to enter the 2021 British and Irish Lions series without any test rugby under his belt. The Springboks may well be unprepared against a very competitive and competent touring Lions team. I don’t think the withdrawal from the Boks Rugby Championship this season was a good idea. I listen to the arguments being made in favor of the well-being of the players, but in the end I don’t know what happens in the dark boardrooms of South African rugby.
Sport24 asked: Your take on the boardroom battles in South African rugby?
Ross Skeate: If we are to make a very general comparison between New Zealand and South African rugby, it is the boardroom battles that are holding South African rugby back. Off the field, New Zealand rugby is ahead of the game in terms of how they handle the sport. I think that the political clout we have in our professional sport, specifically rugby, is something that holds many teams back and hinders progress within South Africa. The fact that it is too political is a big problem for players, coaches and fans alike. I think it is something that is ingrained in our culture and needs to be addressed. When I was in Western Province, the amateur side of the board had a lot of power and they were very in charge. It was fine at the time, but with the way the game progresses in the professional era, the demands of the players are so important now. Players need to be able to compete week after week in a game that is extremely strenuous and that level of professionalism should apply at all levels and most importantly for the bureaucrats and administration of the game. Without professionalism at all levels, there will always be something holding us back. It’s a shame that there is always something political and it speaks to the point that there is still some level of amateurism. I would not say that all administrators are poor, I worked with some amazing ones during my time in South Africa, but I think our rugby is too political. We find it difficult to deal with the politicized nature of rugby.
Sport24 asked: How would you evaluate the male culture within rugby?
Ross Skeate: At the root of the sport, rugby is about brotherhood and going to war with them. You form incredible connections in rugby and in that way it’s pretty inclusive. I think it’s a good thing that (former Wallaby accessory) Dan Palmer recently came out as gay. For me, there should be no homophobic tendencies in sport and you should accept your brother as he is. There are so many rugby players in the world who are possibly gay and thinking of coming out. It’s good that Dan was open and honest and it is something that should not be avoided. In terms of a deeper problem within masculinity as a whole, as men we were taught to avoid our emotions, keep them in a dark corner and not be vulnerable. In a macho sport like rugby, that is emphasized in many ways and in South Africa we are still quite closed that way. There is a calm and masculine culture, whereas in Europe, men are more open to being vulnerable and talking about their feelings because the culture is very different.
