The Craic Interviews Gary Gold
Gary Gold
By Billy Hamilton
May 27 2003
I asked London Irish if they would agree to an interview with Gary Gold. I submitted questions with a view to using these to write an article with some direct quotes. When I received his reply it was so good that I thought that any form of editing would not have conveyed his true feelings.
I therefore print the questionnaire as he wrote it with one question deleted which duplicated a previous answer.
Our thanks go to Gary and to Paddy Lennon for arranging matters.
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Age
A very young 35
Where were you born?
In Johannesburg, South Africa
Playing career (position, club, date) inc. representative honours?
I played first class rugby from the time I left school until I had to retire mid-season in 1997 due to a shoulder injury. I played for four teams during my career. The first was for the Defence Force team when I was in the army. I was in the army for two years and in the second year we won the National Club Championship. I then moved to a club in Cape Town called False Bay where I played for four years before moving to Hamiltons RFC, which is arguably the oldest club in South Africa. Hamiltons RFC always argue with Villagers, the next club I went to, over which is the oldest. During this time I was selected for a South African development team for two overseas tours, one in 1993 and another in 1997. However then I had a scrum accident when I was hooker and tore the pectoral muscle out of my shoulder – believe it or not, the individual most responsible for the accident was the one and only Mr Neal Hatley who was the loosehead on the other team. So unfortunately I never got the opportunity to play senior level provincial or international rugby.
Coaching experience before London Irish?
After the injury I was asked to help out coaching at Villagers for the 2ndXV for the remainder of the season. I immediately loved the challenge and saw it as an awesome opportunity to put all the ideas I had as a player into action. I also immediately signed up to do my coaching diplomas the same year. A year later I was asked to coach the 1st XV along with a very good mate of mine and we were fortunate to win the league the next year. It was the first time the club had won the Super League in forty-one years. I continued to coach the 1st XV until I left to come to London.
When did you meet Brendan Venter?
While I was coaching in Cape Town I also had a sports management company and when Brendan arrived in Cape Town to play for the Stormers we met and did some work together. I immediately took to BV and his ideas on the game and we would meet regularly to solve the world of rugby’s problems over a cup of coffee. BV was at the time also coaching at an underprivileged club near his home and together we were trying out all our ideas. So when he was approached to come to London Irish, I was privileged enough to be asked to join him.
You are described as the Club Coach and Brendan the Player/Coach. Where do your respective duties begin and end?
I think those are just titles. BV is the head coach making all the calls and ultimately having the final decisions on all that happens on the field. My responsibility is primarily the forwards and all the play that relates to everything that happens with the pack. BV and I also share the work for the technical analysis of our performances but BV’s style is so open and democratic that we share ideas on all aspects of the game and share the workload to do with the team. Obviously when he plays then my responsibilities change.
What are your views on your first season with London Irish?
I am obviously very proud of the performances of the squad and it is so rewarding to be involved with guys who work so hard and are so determined to achieve the very best they can. I feel we largely did achieve this under the circumstances at the time. For BV and I, we had set ourselves goals, we were to have the guys performing to the best of their abilities week in week out. We didn’t want to be a "one hit wonder team" that would occasionally win a big game. We wanted to be a consistent threat to all we played against and we hoped and believed that we would win more than we lost. We simply wanted to introduce an ethos into the club of hard, quality work that would show the players one and all that they would be able to achieve anything they truly set their minds to doing and to set a level of excellence that would never be compromised. We also saw last year as a stepping stone to bigger and better things to come for the club.
You made some complimentary remarks about London Irish supporters last year. Would you like to give us your views on the supporters?
Well quite simply London Irish supporters are renowned around the world, along with Irish people, for being the friendliest in the world. We knew that London Irish supporters were extremely loyal and would always welcome one in for a drink…or seven! When I arrived here I had an expectation, especially coming from Cape Town where the Western Province supporters are radically strong. Those expectations have been far surpassed and London Irish supporters have all proven to be kind, friendly and actually quite knowledgeable on the modern game. I have had quite a few good evenings with certain supporters and I have enjoyed their company. However in saying this, the only negative aspect I do have is that I am most surprised as to how many supporters there actually are. I thought at the time of coming over here that London Irish would have the biggest supporter base by far and that has not been the case. That was a bit surprising to me seeing as there are so many Irish folk living in the London area. This point was well proven when we played the Powergen Cup final last year and we saw all those other supporters come out to support us. In saying this though the five thousand odd supporters we see week in week out certainly make enough noise and consume enough Guinness that would comfortably feed 20,000 so I am certainly not complaining!
Perhaps you might give us some information about your family and how you are fitting into life in England (you must miss the sun for a start!)?
I am married to Vanessa and we have a baby girl called Jemma. Jemma is nearly two and the second word she was taught, after ‘Dad’ of course, was ‘Irrrriiiissh’. She has also had quite an introduction into the world as she was only eight months old when we moved here and the first other kids we met were the Hardwick clan! Needless to say Jemma is having treatment and we hope she will be normal again in three to five years!
Life in England is actually awesome. I really mean that. We are so privileged to work in such a great part of London and we have a little apartment on the river, which is only a mile away from the Sunbury fields. Coming from Cape Town we are also very used to loads of rain yet I can only remember a few days during the whole of last year when we had bad rain. However the cold does tend to get to us a bit after a while but Vanessa very cleverly negotiated a trip home during the summer so she could get a dose of sun. In the main we are very very happy here.
How do you relax away from rugby?
I enjoy spending time with my girls and we visit different places around the UK. We have decided to hit the gym as regularly as we can. I am a massive golf fan and try to play a bit and I find it the most relaxing way to take some time out.
What of the future? What length of a contract do you have? You came with Brendan and supporters would like to think that you would stay after he leaves to bring some continuity to the club. How do you see your future after the end of your present contract?
Well unfortunately that decision is not entirely in my hands but as things are at the moment I have another year on my contract and it would be a privilege to stay on so as to keep the continuity but that would be up to senior management. As for my future, I would initially like to stay on at London Irish to establish a really formidable world class team that can follow in the footsteps of Leicester. Then it would be a long-term goal to get involved with coaching Super 12 if it were at all possible.