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Nick Mallett
Nicholas Vivian Haward Mallett (born 30 October 1956) is a former South African rugby union player who played for the Springboks, South Africa's national rugby union team, in 1984. He also coached the Springboks between 1997 and 2000 and was the head coach of Italy's rugby union team between 2007 and 2011.
Born on 30 October 1956 in Hertford Heath, England, Mallett moved to Rhodesia with his family in 1956 when he was only six weeks old, and his father, Tony Mallett, took up a post as an English teacher at the recently founded Peterhouse Boys' School, in Marandellas near Salisbury. Nick first arrived in Cape Town, South Africa in 1963, when his father was appointed Headmaster of Diocesan College, after which he attended St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown. He graduated from the University of Cape Town in 1977 with a BA in English and History. While a student at the university, he was selected to play for the Western Province rugby union team.
In 1979 Mallett moved back to England to attend University College at the University of Oxford, where he not only gained further qualifications but also won Blues in rugby union and cricket, famously hitting three sixes in one over off Ian Botham. Eventually he returned to South Africa, where he represented Western Province in four consecutive Currie Cup wins between 1982 and 1985, and played two games for the Springboks in 1984 against the South American Jaguars.
Mallett once again left South Africa in 1985, this time for France, where he played and coached rugby for seven years until 1992 before eventually returning to South Africa in 1994 and taking a job as Head of the False Bay Rugby Club until 1995.
Between 1995 and 1996, Mallett took up the role of head coach of the Boland Cavaliers before being appointed assistant coach to the Springboks in 1996 and finally getting the job of Springbok Coach in 1997.
Between August 1997 and December 1998, under Mallett's guidance, the Springboks went on a record winning streak of 17 consecutive test wins. As part of the unbeaten run the Springboks won the Tri Nations Series undefeated and beat several teams by record margins, including a 52–10 against France in Paris, a 68–10 win over Scotland in Edinburgh, a 33–0 defeat of Ireland and a 96–13 against Wales. The run ended when the Springbok team was defeated by England at Twickenham at the end of a long tour on 5 December 1998.
The relationship between Mallet and Gary Teichmann, one of South Africa's most successful team captains ever (with 36 wins), began to sour and Teichman was controversially excluded from the 1999 Rugby World Cup squad. Mallet looked for a new captain, first turning to Corné Krige then Rassie Erasmus, Joost van der Westhuizen and André Vos for a solution. In the end, despite the internal instability in the squad, the Springboks managed four consecutive wins and were finally knocked out of the championship in the semi-final by eventual winners Australia. Despite his team's relatively mediocre results of 8 wins and 5 losses in 1999, the Springboks still managed to break more records, beating Italy 101–0 and England in the quarter-final 44–21, with Jannie de Beer kicking a world-record five drop goals in that game.
In 2000, Mallett accused the South Africa Rugby Football Union (SARFU) of "greed" for selling Tri-Nations championship tickets at inflated prices. He had alienated the SARFU executive, and on 27 September he resigned as national coach at the start of a disciplinary hearing began into allegations that his comments had brought the game into disrepute. Some fans, upset by how he had treated Teichman and his team's sudden poor performance, were also keen to see him go.
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Nick Mallett
Nicholas Vivian Haward Mallett (born 30 October 1956) is a former South African rugby union player who played for the Springboks, South Africa's national rugby union team, in 1984. He also coached the Springboks between 1997 and 2000 and was the head coach of Italy's rugby union team between 2007 and 2011.
Born on 30 October 1956 in Hertford Heath, England, Mallett moved to Rhodesia with his family in 1956 when he was only six weeks old, and his father, Tony Mallett, took up a post as an English teacher at the recently founded Peterhouse Boys' School, in Marandellas near Salisbury. Nick first arrived in Cape Town, South Africa in 1963, when his father was appointed Headmaster of Diocesan College, after which he attended St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown. He graduated from the University of Cape Town in 1977 with a BA in English and History. While a student at the university, he was selected to play for the Western Province rugby union team.
In 1979 Mallett moved back to England to attend University College at the University of Oxford, where he not only gained further qualifications but also won Blues in rugby union and cricket, famously hitting three sixes in one over off Ian Botham. Eventually he returned to South Africa, where he represented Western Province in four consecutive Currie Cup wins between 1982 and 1985, and played two games for the Springboks in 1984 against the South American Jaguars.
Mallett once again left South Africa in 1985, this time for France, where he played and coached rugby for seven years until 1992 before eventually returning to South Africa in 1994 and taking a job as Head of the False Bay Rugby Club until 1995.
Between 1995 and 1996, Mallett took up the role of head coach of the Boland Cavaliers before being appointed assistant coach to the Springboks in 1996 and finally getting the job of Springbok Coach in 1997.
Between August 1997 and December 1998, under Mallett's guidance, the Springboks went on a record winning streak of 17 consecutive test wins. As part of the unbeaten run the Springboks won the Tri Nations Series undefeated and beat several teams by record margins, including a 52–10 against France in Paris, a 68–10 win over Scotland in Edinburgh, a 33–0 defeat of Ireland and a 96–13 against Wales. The run ended when the Springbok team was defeated by England at Twickenham at the end of a long tour on 5 December 1998.
The relationship between Mallet and Gary Teichmann, one of South Africa's most successful team captains ever (with 36 wins), began to sour and Teichman was controversially excluded from the 1999 Rugby World Cup squad. Mallet looked for a new captain, first turning to Corné Krige then Rassie Erasmus, Joost van der Westhuizen and André Vos for a solution. In the end, despite the internal instability in the squad, the Springboks managed four consecutive wins and were finally knocked out of the championship in the semi-final by eventual winners Australia. Despite his team's relatively mediocre results of 8 wins and 5 losses in 1999, the Springboks still managed to break more records, beating Italy 101–0 and England in the quarter-final 44–21, with Jannie de Beer kicking a world-record five drop goals in that game.
In 2000, Mallett accused the South Africa Rugby Football Union (SARFU) of "greed" for selling Tri-Nations championship tickets at inflated prices. He had alienated the SARFU executive, and on 27 September he resigned as national coach at the start of a disciplinary hearing began into allegations that his comments had brought the game into disrepute. Some fans, upset by how he had treated Teichman and his team's sudden poor performance, were also keen to see him go.