Mallett lets friends and rivals do talking

As South African rugby continues to gallop along at the embarrassing fall-out rate of one national coach a year, the latest victim of the most toxic poisoned chalice in the world game, Nick Mallett, was conspicuous by his silence yesterday. However, the English-born Springbok was positively bombarded with messages of sympathy and respect from every corner of the union landscape, including his own.

As South African rugby continues to gallop along at the embarrassing fall-out rate of one national coach a year, the latest victim of the most toxic poisoned chalice in the world game, Nick Mallett, was conspicuous by his silence yesterday. However, the English-born Springbok was positively bombarded with messages of sympathy and respect from every corner of the union landscape, including his own.

Ngconde Balfour, the South African Minister of Sport who counted himself among the coach's most loyal supporters, said he was "completely taken aback" by his friend's abrupt resignation on Wednesday night, a few hours after the end of the first day of a disciplinary hearing into Mallett's alleged breach of contract. Meanwhile, two prominent All Black coaches, the incumbent Wayne Smith and his predecessor John Hart, expressed surprise and regret at the sudden turn of events.

Smith spoke of his "shock", while Hart, whose tactical mind games with Mallett were a feature of some classic Tri-Nations encounters, said: "He will probably be missed a lot more than people realise over there. I wouldn't want to get involved in the rights and wrongs of the decision because I don't know the detail of it, but I rate Nick very highly as a person and I'm disappointed for him. He was very committed to his role and I think he showed in his last two games against New Zealand and Australia that he was making real progress in terms of converting his team's style. I know how committed he was to getting South African rugby right."

Mallett, accused of the catch-all offence of bringing the game into disrepute after publicly criticising his national union's pricing policy for Test tickets, had been expected to attend all three days of the hearing in Cape Town. Indeed, some supporters assumed he would win the day and lead the Boks on their forthcoming European tour. Others were less hopeful, though; during the run-up to the case, rumour was rife in Springbok circles that Mallett's goose was well and truly roasted. The coach appeared to reach the same conclusion, hence his unexpectedly swift abdication.

Harry Viljoen, formerly of Western Province, is confidently expected to become South Africa's eighth national coach since the end of isolation in 1992. He will be hard pushed to match Mallett's success rate of 27 wins in 38 matches, including a record-equalling run of 17 off the reel. Only the late Kitch Christie, the World Cup-winning coach of 1995, played the role to greater effect, winning all 14 of his fixtures. As one member of the Springbok management said recently: "The big boys at SARFU are gunning for Nick, but they're shooting themselves in both feet."

Fluent in four languages but keen to live and work in an English-speaking country, Mallett has frequently been linked with the new Twickenham post of Performance Director. That, though, is a white collar job with very little opportunity for hands-on coaching. At this early juncture, Australia seems a more likely bolt-hole. John O'Neill, the chief executive of the Wallaby union, is said to be keen on Mallett coaching a fourth Australian Super 12 province.