Brendan Venter
Encyclopedia
Brendan Venter is a former rugby union
player who played at centre and also coached for London Irish
. He is currently director of rugby at Saracens
. He is a qualified MD
(physician).
Venter came on as replacement for James Small in the 1995 Rugby World Cup final in which South Africa beat New Zealand to land their first world cup.
He was red-carded in the 1999 World Cup for stamping against Uruguay
in the pool stages, he was replaced by Pieter Muller for the rest of the tournament. The Springboks were knocked out in the semi-finals, defeated by Australia.'
He has 17 caps as a Springbok rugby player, representing South Africa between 1994 and 1999.
The Rugby World Cup took place in 1995, and after this rugby turned professional. However Venter still continued to practise as a doctor: "I was very lucky. Although we were professional, training in my province only started at five in the afternoon. So I had the whole day to work as a GP in my own practice as well as doing afternoons in anaesthetics. The rugby training was really my stress relief."
In 2001 Venter came back to the United Kingdom with his wife and two children to coach and play for London Irish. "I was very analytical as a player and had always wanted to try out my ideas as a coach." Concurrently he has continued to fit in GP locum work as well as dealing with his team's medical needs.
He believes that medicine helps him be a better coach: "When I am faced with a coaching problem, I fall back on the principles I was taught as a doctor. I have learnt that sometimes it doesn't matter how much you know, how committed you are, how much work you put in. Sometimes there are variables that you can't predict. Medicine taught me to accept that there are some things I can't change."
However, recently he has admitted that when it comes to the crunch, he would always choose rugby over medicine, citing his new found love of the game after joining Saracens as DOR in 2009.
On 13 May 2010 Venter was charged with misconduct by the RFU for allegedly pushing a Leicester Tigers
supporter who had asked him to sit down as he was blocking the view of the paying fans as well as making inappropriate comments and gestures to spectators. In his defence, Venter has described the incident as a bit of fun and the chief executive and the club owner of Saracens have defended Venter, claiming they considered it out of character for him. He has an existing four week suspended ban from an incident earlier in the season. Venter eventually received a 10 week ban from rugby.
In November he was found guilty of misconduct due to being "inappropriately critical of ERC, the tournament, the match officials and the sport of rugby union" by ERC after he complained about the referee following his side losing at home in a key match when he considered them to be the better side, comments from neutral fans have expressed surprise at his opinions as his side were seen as out played and out thought by the opposing team. He was fined £21,850, but £13,100 was suspended until June 30, 2012.
In December, Venter was warned by the ERC after giving a bizarre post-match interview following the Saracens
defeat to Racing Métro 92 in the Heineken cup. Venter gave extremely short answers to every question posed to him, and afterwards admitted that he was inspired from a comedy sketch from the film Mike Bassett: England Manager
which he had recently watched. The interview has since become a hit on youtube.
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player who played at centre and also coached for London Irish
London Irish
London Irish RFC is an English rugby union club based in Sunbury, Surrey, where the senior squad train, the youth teams and senior academy play home games, and the club maintain their administrative offices. The senior squad play home games at the Madejski Stadium in Reading and compete in the top...
. He is currently director of rugby at Saracens
Saracens F.C.
Saracens are a professional rugby union team based in St. Albans, England – although they play their home games at Vicarage Road, in Watford. They are currently members of the Aviva Premiership, the top level of domestic rugby union in England...
. He is a qualified MD
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
(physician).
Venter came on as replacement for James Small in the 1995 Rugby World Cup final in which South Africa beat New Zealand to land their first world cup.
He was red-carded in the 1999 World Cup for stamping against Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
in the pool stages, he was replaced by Pieter Muller for the rest of the tournament. The Springboks were knocked out in the semi-finals, defeated by Australia.'
He has 17 caps as a Springbok rugby player, representing South Africa between 1994 and 1999.
History
Venter started off playing rugby for South African schools. He said that even then his studies came first. "I was a good rugby player at school. I saw it as a tool to get a degree—my parents weren't very wealthy. I decided that if I made it as a rugby player it would be a bonus but that even if I didn't it would pay for my studies and I could become a doctor. Venter went to the University of the Orange Free State to study medicine and play rugby. After too much partying in his first year, he just scraped through his exams. "I had a real reality check. I had to decide if I really wanted to be a rugby player or a doctor. So when I went back in my second year there was a complete change in attitude, and rugby took second place. I was determined to be a good doctor and felt that I had to give my studies priority in order to achieve this."The Rugby World Cup took place in 1995, and after this rugby turned professional. However Venter still continued to practise as a doctor: "I was very lucky. Although we were professional, training in my province only started at five in the afternoon. So I had the whole day to work as a GP in my own practice as well as doing afternoons in anaesthetics. The rugby training was really my stress relief."
In 2001 Venter came back to the United Kingdom with his wife and two children to coach and play for London Irish. "I was very analytical as a player and had always wanted to try out my ideas as a coach." Concurrently he has continued to fit in GP locum work as well as dealing with his team's medical needs.
He believes that medicine helps him be a better coach: "When I am faced with a coaching problem, I fall back on the principles I was taught as a doctor. I have learnt that sometimes it doesn't matter how much you know, how committed you are, how much work you put in. Sometimes there are variables that you can't predict. Medicine taught me to accept that there are some things I can't change."
However, recently he has admitted that when it comes to the crunch, he would always choose rugby over medicine, citing his new found love of the game after joining Saracens as DOR in 2009.
On 13 May 2010 Venter was charged with misconduct by the RFU for allegedly pushing a Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010...
supporter who had asked him to sit down as he was blocking the view of the paying fans as well as making inappropriate comments and gestures to spectators. In his defence, Venter has described the incident as a bit of fun and the chief executive and the club owner of Saracens have defended Venter, claiming they considered it out of character for him. He has an existing four week suspended ban from an incident earlier in the season. Venter eventually received a 10 week ban from rugby.
In November he was found guilty of misconduct due to being "inappropriately critical of ERC, the tournament, the match officials and the sport of rugby union" by ERC after he complained about the referee following his side losing at home in a key match when he considered them to be the better side, comments from neutral fans have expressed surprise at his opinions as his side were seen as out played and out thought by the opposing team. He was fined £21,850, but £13,100 was suspended until June 30, 2012.
In December, Venter was warned by the ERC after giving a bizarre post-match interview following the Saracens
Saracens F.C.
Saracens are a professional rugby union team based in St. Albans, England – although they play their home games at Vicarage Road, in Watford. They are currently members of the Aviva Premiership, the top level of domestic rugby union in England...
defeat to Racing Métro 92 in the Heineken cup. Venter gave extremely short answers to every question posed to him, and afterwards admitted that he was inspired from a comedy sketch from the film Mike Bassett: England Manager
Mike Bassett: England Manager
Mike Bassett: England Manager is a 2001 satirical comedy film directed by Steve Barron, following the fortunes of the manager of Division One football club Norwich City, Mike Bassett, who having led his side to the 'Mr Clutch Cup', is appointed England manager.The film takes the form of a...
which he had recently watched. The interview has since become a hit on youtube.