Leonard Solms

There’s been quite a bit said about Sacha and his attitude this week, so I thought I’d share my own experiences of meeting him. I’ve met Sacha twice. The first was a few years ago in Cardiff, following a Stormers defeat. Sacha had been injured during the match and was visibly limping afterwards. Not all the Stormers players came out to meet the supporters, understandably given the result, but Sacha was there, happily taking photos, signing autographs and chatting to fans. I spoke to him and asked whether he could fetch Leolin Zas, who’s related to my wife. He was more than happy to oblige. The second occasion was last year at Mojo Market in Cape Town. He was injured at the time and working towards his comeback. We had a good chat and, once again, he was incredibly pleasant, approachable and easy to talk to. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet plenty of Springboks, Stormers and Sharks players over the years. Most have been fantastic, although one or two haven’t. I remember approaching another Stormers player after that same Cardiff defeat. It was just him, my young son and me in a stadium passageway. I told him I was sorry about the result but thought he’d personally had a great game. I received a miserable response before he walked off. Did I go away thinking he was an arrogant, unpleasant person? No. Perhaps he’d had a bad day. Perhaps he simply wasn’t in the mood to talk. I certainly didn’t feel the need to question his character publicly. I’ve also encountered some of the biggest names in Springbok and Proteas history in far less flattering circumstances. Like the rest of us, professional sportsmen aren’t perfect. They have their good days, bad days and moments they’d probably rather forget. Which brings me to Sacha and Damian Willemse. Whether Sacha deliberately failed to acknowledge Damian or simply didn’t see him, he was clearly unhappy about coming off. He’s hardly the first player to show frustration at being substituted and certainly won’t be the last. Does Sacha occasionally get frustrated or make mistakes? Of course. He’s human. But judging someone’s entire character from a few seconds of footage seems rather unfair. Sacha is an extrovert. He’s exceptionally talented, confident and expressive. Personally, I think that’s brilliant for rugby. In my opinion, he’s comfortably the biggest superstar in the sport right now, and the game is better for having personalities like him. I appreciate that not everyone likes that sort of confidence or flamboyance. Some prefer their rugby players more understated, and that’s fair enough. But confidence shouldn’t automatically be confused with arrogance. There’s also an interesting comparison with Rassie Erasmus. Rassie is hardly a traditionalist. He’s outspoken, unconventional, occasionally provocative and certainly not afraid to challenge the establishment. South Africans absolutely love him for it. Why should Sacha’s willingness to express himself be viewed so differently? I also think that, in some instances, conscious or unconscious racial bias may play a part in how Sacha is perceived and criticised, potentially from both sides of South Africa’s racial divide. That certainly doesn’t mean every criticism of him is racially motivated, but I do wonder whether some people would react quite so strongly if he were a different player. Ultimately, none of us really knows the dynamics within that Springbok squad, and a brief interaction on the touchline tells us very little about someone’s character. What I do know is that on two occasions, including one when he’d just been injured in a disappointing defeat, Sacha went out of his way to be friendly, accommodating and generous with his time. Those experiences carry considerably more weight with me than a few seconds of footage being dissected on social media. I hope he ignores the noise, continues expressing himself and carries on doing what he does best.