New Sharks Director of Rugby Brendan Venter says that he plans to work in the background at the Rugby Union and create a new environment in the Sharks camp where players can thrive.
Venter says that he will be working in the background as a mentor to new head coach Brad McLeod-Henderson and his assistant Sean Everitt, and as an adviser to Smit.
The former Springbok will link up with the Sharks for the first time on Sunday for a training camp that will mark the beginning of their Currie Cup build up.
"My role is not going to be a high-profile one at all, it will be John and Brad who will be the face of the Sharks going forward and they are the guys who will be doing the media interviews and be in the spotlight," Venter told SuperSport in his first interview since accepting his new position.
"There are two reasons why that will be the case. The first one relates to my personal reticence to give media interviews. I know that 95% of the mainstream rugby writers are ethical people, but there are a few who spoil it and I have been burned in the past."
"It's not so much that as a coach you get misquoted, but rather that quotes often get used selectively."
"The second reason I won't be doing many interviews relates to my objective at the Sharks. While I intend to be very hands-on as a coach during the coming Currie Cup season, and will be extremely busy helping devise tactics and operating as a sounding board, I want Brad as the head coach to develop into that role."
"I am going to be playing a background role helping bring the coaches through and trying to ensure that the right culture is created to enable the team to thrive."
Venter said that during his time with Saracens in England he got to know newly appointed Sharks CEO John Smit and when he was offered the Sharks job it was impossible to turn it down as he sees the former Bok captain as a leader who breeds success and inspires people around him.
"When I spent time with John I saw so many parallels between him and Morne du Plessis and Francois Pienaar in the way he lives his life. "
"I know it is an old cliche, but it is nonetheless true that if you surround yourself with good people, the rest will follow. All three of them have personalities and abilities that make them incredibly successful not just at rugby, but at life itself."
Venter, who is also a medical doctor in Strand outside Cape Town, says that he wants to be seen as a succesful coach but he does not define his success on the number of wins or losses.
"I consider myself to be someone that tries to be a good husband and father, and a good doctor. I would like to be successful as a coach but I don't define myself by my achievements as a rugby player or coach," he said.
Venter wants to create an environment where players can develop as people and live successful lives away from rugby.
"I probably have a different approach to many when it comes to rugby coaching. For me it is all about creating a good environment. Creating an environment that people can express themselves in and perform in is essential. Rugby is essentially a game and while we try and win every time we play, everything has to be put in perspective.
"There is never an instance in rugby where a coach should allow himself to sacrifice his integrity in order to win a game. I apply that same philosophy to the team. We will try incredibly hard, but as Dr Danie Craven once said, the way we live will be the way we play, and with that the way we play will end up being the way we live.
"My vision for the Sharks is that apart from playing rugby we will develop our off-field skills and live successful lives. The bottom line for me, and this is why I compared John Smit to Morne du Plessis and Francois Pienaar, is that if you have integrity you tend to be more successful."
John Smit wants to create a similar atmosphere in Durban to the one that drove the Sharks' success when he was a young player and was being led by Gary Teichmann.
"The guys who played for the Sharks in that era were a special bunch of people. They were more than just teammates on the rugby field who had a professional job to do. They were friends off it too. "
"Guys like Henry Honiball, Dick Muir, Mark Andrews, Adrian Garvey and Teichmann were switched on when they were on the field but they had a great time off it too."
"John wants us to be more than just a team, and I can relate to what he wants. I have agreed to help him put things in place that will hopefully make that possible."
Venter will continue to work for Saracens in England and he plans to fly out once a month where he will fulfill his job as a technical director and points out that in today's technological age keeping tabs on players is much easier than people think.
"Each player has an iPad with an app on it, and I am able to monitor training sessions and coaching meetings on a daily basis from South Africa without it being any problem. My job is to put stats together and assess performances. I watch every game and analyse what we do and fly to the UK once every month to talk to the coaches.
"But while I fly out and see them in the flesh only once a month, I have almost daily interaction with them when I am in the Cape. They see me as someone who they can bounce ideas off without worrying if I may have hidden agendas. It's a system that has worked well."
In between Venter's flights between the UK he will spend a lot of time with the Sharks and still maintain his practice as a medical doctor.
"It's going to be really hectic and busy for me, but then there is truth in that quote from Braveheart: 'All men die, a few men truly live, and if we don't try things we will never know what we can achieve'. I am going to have to wake up at 4am every Monday and fly to Durban. I will spend Monday and Tuesday in Durban, attending all the Sharks meetings and training sessions.
"Wednesday is the day off at the Sharks, so I will fly back to Cape Town on the Tuesday night and put in a full day of work at my medical practice. Then it will be back to Durban on the Thursday for the captain's practice."
"I will spend Friday at the medical practice before flying to where the Sharks are due to play either on the Friday night or the Saturday, depending on when the game is."
In terms of players Venter says that there will be a far greater emphasis on rotation in selection.
"There will be a rotational system rather than a top team of 15 as such. It is my firm belief that rugby teams win matches, rugby squads win championships. It will be our ability as a group that will determine whether we are successful, not our strength as individuals. I would rather see the workload divided than have the same team play 40 games in a row."
In terms of changes to the Sharks' playing style and improvements that need to be made, Venter doesn't appear to be focusing on any areas that require a radical amount of special attention.
"I've been through the stats for this past Super Rugby season and there is nothing that really jumps out at you," he says.
"The Sharks conceded the third-fewest tries in the competition, and also scored the third-most tries. There really wasn't anything that was particularly poor, and ultimately I think it was because of the injuries that the team ended up in mid-table."
"As I say, my primary focus is to change the culture and try and bring that specialness to the Sharks that John (Smit) is looking for."
"It's not just about trophies, although those are obviously important, and they will come if you create an environment that is special."
