Mendez signs off at the Sharks
Puma front-ranker Federico Mendez returns to his native Argentina on Wednesday to devote more time to the wine farm he has established as well as speed up plans to begin exporting a Vodka-based drink to the rest of South America. Oh yes, and there's the small matter of the Wallabies, who visit Buenos Aires for a one-off Test match early in November.
But on Monday he gave a glimpse of what he'll probably be doing when he's next in these parts - putting some of his erstwhile Sharks teammates through a scrummaging session which held a small but knowledgeable gathering spellbound. The gathering included former Sharks supremo Ian McIntosh and John Allan, who played hooker for South Africa and Scotland.
The 20-minute workout for the forwards assembled on the King's Park outerfield was not rigorous, but whenever Mendez spoke, and no matter how small a technical point he made - and there were many of them - you could have heard a pin drop, such was the concentration from the players.
McIntosh, in charge of the Sharks when Mendez was here in 1996, enthused: "He is so good - and his English has improved no end since he was here last. There were some words that I hadn't heard before."
"It's like any great teacher," explained coach Kevin Putt, another among the converted. "He wanted to make sure that he went over a few things with the players before he left - just to remind them."
Among the pupils were Springbok hookers John Smit and Lucas van Biljon, the pair whose injuries brought the revered Argentinian out here to experience his second stint of South African life. Listening to Mendez it won't be his last visit.
"I liked Natal virtually from the day I arrived in 1996. I've made many friends and, who knows, maybe I'll come back in two or three years' time - but as a scrumming coach. The world's become so small that once you get to know people somewhere it's easy to go in and perform a job. I've done a fair amount of coaching while I've been here and they seem quite receptive to my ideas."
Mendez, who has enjoyed 12 years of international rugby and can claim to have been part of Currie Cup and European Cup-winning sides, believes rugby ought to be enjoyed above all else.
Fortunate
"I was fortunate to have played when rugby was still an amateur sport," he said. "When I was out here first, even though the Natal guys were getting paid to play, most of them still had jobs. Now it's fulltime. But I don't think I could ever endure a life where I only played rugby.
"Don't get me wrong. I enjoy my rugby, but I don't ever want it to become like a job for me. After a couple of years all the enjoyment would probably have gone out of it."
Having been part of the last Natal side to win the Currie Cup - in 1996 - he believes the current side "can also win the title".
"They certainly have the individual players to do so," he said last Friday before the Sharks decimated the Free State Cheetahs.
"The Western Province game helped the guys realise that after the loss to the Lions." But, he cautioned: "It's not necessarily the team with the best individuals which wins championships, but the one where the players perform as a team. That's the key to success."