It seems Brendan Venter’s inspirational post-match interview last weekend was an homage to the performance of a gormless England coach in the not-all-that-amusing movie Mike Bassett: England Manager.

Venter, still upset after being fined by the powers that be for his “honest” comments in the wake of the defeat to Leinster, said it best by saying nothing at all after Saracens latest Heineken Cup loss.

Quizzed by an increasingly exasperated Sky Sports reporter, the good doctor simply repeated the questions or explained he would have to think about the issues “very deeply” before offering any further assessment.

While certainly childish, it made for delightfully uncomfortable viewing with Venter modeling himself on the Dave Dodds character from the film.

“We watched a movie, Mike Bassett: England Manager, which is a bit of an English comedy a couple of weeks ago on a bus on our away trip and the assistant coach gave a great interview,” he told eyewitnessnews.co.za. “I thought I have got into so much trouble up until now so I’ll just learn from this guy because there is no way I will get into trouble if I do it like that.”