Nicholas Vivian Haward Mallett (born 30 October 1956) is a former South African

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player who played for the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

, South Africa's national

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.

Early life

Born on 30 October 1956 in

Hertford Heath Hertford Heath is a village and civil parish near the county town of Hertford in Hertfordshire, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 2,672. Geography It is located on a heath above the River Lea valley, on its south side. Almost all ...

, England, Mallett moved to

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of So ...

with his family in 1956 when he was only six weeks old, and his father,

Tony Mallett Anthony William Haward Mallett (29 August 1924 – 10 December 1994) was an English amateur cricketer who played for Oxford University and Kent County Cricket Club. He was a school teacher who became Principal of Diocesan College in Cape Town, ...

, took up a post as an English teacher at the recently founded

Peterhouse Boys' School , location = , province = Mashonaland East , country = Zimbabwe , coordinates = , type = Independent, boarding, high school , denomination = Anglican , patron = Saint Peter , founded = 1955 , founder = Fred Snell , sister_school = Pe ...

, in

Marandellas Marondera (known as Marandellas until 1982) is a city in Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe, located about 72 km east of Harare. History It was first known as Marandella's Kraal, corrupted from Marondera, chief of the ruling VaRozvi people who ...

near

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

. Nick first arrived in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

, South Africa in 1963, when his father was appointed Headmaster of

Diocesan College The Diocesan College (commonly known as Bishops) is a private, English medium, boarding and day high school for boys situated in the suburb of Rondebosch in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The school was established on ...

, after which he attended St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown. He graduated from the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

in 1977 with a BA in English and History. While a student at the university, he was selected to play for the

Western Province Western Province or West Province may refer to: * Western Province, Cameroon *Western Province, Rwanda *Western Province (Kenya) *Western Province (Papua New Guinea) *Western Province (Solomon Islands) *Western Province, Sri Lanka *Western Provin ...

rugby union team.

Playing career

In 1979 Mallett moved back to England to attend

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

, where he not only gained further qualifications but also won

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

, famously hitting three sixes in one over off

Ian Botham Ian Terence Botham, Baron Botham, (born 24 November 1955) is an English cricket commentator, member of the House of Lords, a former cricketer who has been chairman of Durham County Cricket Club since 2017 and charity fundraiser. Hailed as on ...

. Eventually he returned to South Africa, where he represented

in four consecutive

Currie Cup The Currie Cup is South Africa's premier domestic rugby union competition, played each winter and spring (June to October), featuring teams representing either entire provinces or substantial regions within provinces. Although it is the premi ...

wins between 1982 and 1985, and played two games for the Springboks in 1984 against the

South American Jaguars The South American XV (sometimes known as CONSUR XV and formerly as South American Jaguars) is a rugby union team made up from the national rugby sides in the Sudamérica Rugby (formerly CONSUR) rugby federation. The squad was first formed in ...

Test history

Coaching career

The beginning

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 The Boland Cavaliers (Boland Kavaliers in Afrikaans), are a South African rugby union team that participates in the annual Currie Cup tournament. They draw players from the Cape Winelands and West Coast districts of Western Cape Province, an ...

before being appointed assistant coach to the Springboks in 1996 and finally getting the job of Springbok Coach in 1997.

Coach of Springboks (1997–2000)

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 The Rugby Championship is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina national rugby union team, Argentina, Australia national rugby union team, Australia, New Zealand national rugby union team, New Zealand, and Sou ...

undefeated and beat several teams by record margins, including a 52–10 against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in Paris, a 68–10 win over

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

in Edinburgh, a 33–0 defeat of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

and a 96–13 against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. The run ended when the Springbok team was defeated by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boro ...

at the end of a long tour on 5 December 1998. The relationship between Mallet and

Gary Teichmann Gary Hamilton Teichmann (born 9 January 1967) is a retired South African professional rugby union player. He played number eight and captained the South African national team, the Springboks, between 1995 and 1999. Teichmann stands 1.95 metres ...

, 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 The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was principally hosted by Wales, and was won by Australia. This was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's professi ...

squad. Mallet looked for a new captain, first turning to

Corné Krige Cornelius Petrus Johannes "Corné" Krige (born 21 March 1975) is a retired South African rugby union player. He played flanker for Western Province in the Currie Cup, the Stormers in Super Rugby and captained the South African national side, th ...

then

Rassie Erasmus Johan "Rassie" Erasmus (born 5 November 1972) is a South African rugby union coach and former player. He was the head coach of the South Africa national rugby union team, South African national team from 2018 to the end of their 2019 World Cup ...

Joost van der Westhuizen Joost Heystek van der Westhuizen (20 February 1971 – 6 February 2017) was a South African professional rugby union player who made 89 appearances in test matches for the national team, scoring 38 tries. He mostly played as a scrum-half and ...

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 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

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 Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

101–0 and England in the quarter-final 44–21, with

Jannie de Beer Jan Hendrik de Beer (born 22 April 1971) is a South African former rugby union player. He played flyhalf for the South African national team, the Springboks. In all he represented the Springboks in 13 tests, scoring 181 points. He was principa ...

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. In spite of his team's relatively poor performance and the internal strife that marred his final years as coach, Mallett remains one of South Africa's most successful coaches ever, having won 27 of the 38 tests played under his guidance and rewriting the record books several times

Stade Français (2002–04)

Mallett moved back to France as coach for the Paris club

Stade Français Stade Français Paris Rugby () is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French clubs of the modern era. The ...

, which he led to two consecutive French domestic title wins in 2003 and 2004 before returning to South Africa where he accepted the job of Director of Rugby at

. Initially there was speculation that he might coach the Springbok team again, but those rumours were quashed by the appointment of

Jake White Jake White (born 13 December 1963 as ''Jacob Westerduin'') is a professional rugby union coach and former coach of the South African national team – the ''Springboks'' – whom he coached to victory in 2007 Rugby World Cup and the 2004 Tri ...

as the new South African coach. Mallet was linked with the position of England coach after the coerced resignation of

Andy Robinson Richard Andrew Robinson OBE (born 3 April 1964) is an English rugby union coach and retired player. He was the director of rugby at Bristol until November 2016. He is the former head coach of Scotland and England. From September 2019 to Dec ...

in 2006, a position that eventually went to Brian Ashton. In 2007 Mallett became coach of

Italy (2007–11)

On 3 October 2007, Mallett replaced Frenchman Pierre Berbizier as "CT" ("Technical Commissioner", i.e. coach) of the

Italy national rugby union team The Italy national rugby union team (Italian: ''Squadra nazionale italiana di rugby'') represents Italy in men's international rugby union. The team is known as ''gli Azzurri'' (the light-blues). Savoy blue is the common colour of the national ...

. His Six Nations debut was fairly impressive; Italy were defeated by

11–16 in the first game, but came close to victory against

Jonny Wilkinson Jonathan Peter Wilkinson, CBE (born 25 May 1979) is an English former rugby union player. A fly-half, he played for Newcastle Falcons and Toulon and represented England and the British & Irish Lions. He is particularly known for scoring the w ...

's England team. Italy lost also against

and

. In those matches he gave

Andrea Marcato Andrea Marcato (born 17 April 1983) is an Italian rugby union coach and former international player. He won 16 caps for Italy and played in the 2008 and 2009 Six Nations Championships. After the end of his playing career he began coaching and is ...

and Alberto Sgarbi their debuts'. In the final game, Mallett's team beat

23–20, thanks to Marcato's late drop goal. However, Italy won the

wooden spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...

because their points difference was worse than Scotland's. During the summer test matches, he got a good result against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

, the world champions at the time, in

, despite Italy losing 0–26. In Córdoba Italy beat

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...

for the first time thanks to

Leonardo Ghiraldini Leonardo Ghiraldini (born 26 December 1984) is a retired Italian international rugby union player. Ghiraldini's playing position is hooker. Club career Ghiraldini began his career with Petrarca Rugby in his home town of Padua before moving to ...

's try and a late penalty by Marcato. He also coached the Barbarians against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

in December 2009 with the 'Baa-Baas' winning 25–18. In 2010 Mallet coached the Barbarians to victory over South Africa. In the 2010 Six Nations, Mallett guided Italy to a 16–12 win against Scotland. Despite this victory, Italy's only win in the competition, they didn't avoid the wooden spoon because Scotland's points difference was just one better. In the

2011 Six Nations Championship The 2011 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2011 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 12th series of the Six Nations Championship, and the 117th edition of the international championship. The annual rugby unio ...

Italy beat

by 22–21 in arguably their best victory to date.

Retirement (2011–present)

In November 2011, after the World Cup in New Zealand, Nick Mallett's contract as head coach of Italy expired and he returned to Cape Town with Frenchman Jacques Brunel taking over the Italy job. Mallett has stated that he wishes to spend time with his family in South Africa, despite being briefly linked to the position as Coach of England following Martin Johnson's resignation.

References

External links

SupaRugby: Nick Mallett New Director of Rugby
*
Stade Francais
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mallett, Nick 1956 births Living people Villager FC players South African rugby union coaches South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Oxford University RFC players Oxford University cricketers Alumni of University College, Oxford Alumni of St. Andrew's College, Grahamstown Stade Français coaches University of Cape Town alumni South Africa national rugby union team coaches Italy national rugby team coaches Western Province (rugby union) players People from Makhanda, Eastern Cape South African cricketers British Universities cricketers Rugby union players from Hertford Rugby union number eights