There was another one of those moments at a Western Province press conference this week. Allister Coetzee was asked why he thought the Lions had lost so many games by narrow margins without quite being able to get over the line to win.
"It's not my problem, but thanks for trying to make it my problem..."
I am not sure how many others were aware Coetzee had been sounded out about the Lions' director of rugby job, but as I had known about it for a while, his answer was deeply ironic.
No Allister, it's not your problem now, but it might become your problem quite soon.
And the magnitude of that problem was summed up by his answer to why the Lions were being competitive without winning.
"They are getting their structures right, there have been massive improvements in their game since Jake (White) became involved as a consultant, but at this stage they just don't have enough experienced players."
Clearly Coetzee knows what he is trading if he moves from Cape Town to Johannesburg, and he knows only too well that a switch to the Lions would mean the immediate gratification of trophies would have to be deferred to a three or five year plan. That is what is going to be needed to get the Lions right, and his former coaching partner at the Springboks, White, wouldn't have left him under any illusions that getting the Lions back on track is going to be easy.
But my information is that White is so determined to get Coetzee on board that he has informed the Lions the future involvement of his company, Winning Ways, with them is dependent upon them contracting Coetzee as their director of rugby.
Some might respond to that by saying "So what, what has White done with the Lions this year?" But this would just be another instance where reality is different to perception.
In this age of SMS feedback and internet comment blogs there is much naive nonsense sometimes pushed into the public domain. Much of it isn't very cerebral, and those who use the Lions' record in this Currie Cup as a stick to beat White rank for sheer sporting ignorance alongside those who believe Graeme Smith's recent ton against England stymied his team and those who feel criticism of Peter de Villiers is racist.
When White took over he knew he was taking over a sow's ear in terms of the players that were available to the Lions. Several had left for greener pastures after the Super 14 season ended, and his audit showed that apart from anything else, the players were sorely lacking in conditioning. At a time when other unions have been concentrating just on playing, the Lions have been working on their conditioning.
White said at the outset that he didn't expect overnight success, that the Lions would have to busy themselves recruiting from outside as they just never had the players. The only promise he made was that he would ensure the Lions improved their defence and would play a full 80 minutes in every game. That they have done that is beyond dispute.
They are in the top three in terms of defensive records in the Currie Cup, and the team that pushed the Sharks last week was much improved on the side that were thumped by 50 by the Stormers earlier in the year, even though the Super 14 team was superior on paper.
White is not a full-time employee of the Lions, and apart from not contracting the players, he was also unable to contract a coach that he could work with. The improvements in the Lions discipline, physicality, defence and structural organisation are clear for all to see. The Lions are far more structured now than under the previous regime, and that at least is something they can build on.
If Coetzee signs with the Lions, White will not be Coetzee's boss, but Coetzee will be free to consult with White and his group of successful Bok management members whenever he needs to. The Lions will in turn be gaining the services of a coach that in my opinion should have been Heyneke Meyer's only rival for the current Bok job when the position was vacant early last year.
By working through the numerous problems confronted by WP at the start of the Currie Cup to mould a winning team, Coetzee has underlined his coaching credentials and vindicated the World Cup winning coach's extremely high regard for him.
Had SA Rugby taken White's advice last year the Boks would not have gone through the growing pains they had to endure under their current coach as Coetzee would not have needed convincing of the virtues of the strategy the Boks are successfully employing now. After all, together with White and Gert Smal he was intimately involved in introducing it. Coetzee is technically sound, he is the complete package as a coach.
If he signs with the Gauteng union, Coetzee would be a big loss to WP but a massive gain for the Lions. Just so long as he recognises that the road to success there is going to be a long one.