Brendan Venter began his long-awaited public appearance with head bowed, uttering one-word answers and a general demeanour he would rather be anywhere else. By the end he had compared Prem Rugby to an “autocracy”, mentioned Ukraine and Gaza, and detailed an inspirational talk he recently gave at a school. Of course there was wine to talk, too.

An audience with Saracens’ technical director and head of culture is rarely boring and the latest was worth the wait.

To recap, it was announced in February that Venter would replace Mark McCall as director of rugby, returning to the position he left 15 years ago. He has been conspicuous by his absence at press engagements this season, however, and was fined by Prem Rugby.

His job title was changed to head of rugby culture and wine consultant, which felt like a two-fingered salute to the powers-that-be, and then changed again. The missed media appearances continued until he held court on Wednesday on a rainy afternoon at Saracens’ training base in St Albans.

After some monosyllabic responses Venter finally opened up. “I have the desire as a human being not to want to talk, because it’s not supposed to be about me, it’s about a team, and I expressed that desire before I came.

“And I’m not the director of rugby of this club. This club does not have a director of rugby. This club has an unbelievably competent head coach in Joe [Shaw]. And I ask really kindly, and eventually I bend over backwards to explain my situation and I’m expected again to come and do an interview.

“Joe’s input is way more valuable than my input. And if we get obsessed and we get into an argument and we fine a club, that for me does not make sense. It sounds like something we do in an autocratic land, in a country, not in a democracy where people have got the right to say: ‘This is not what I want to do’.”

Venter has history here, and found himself in disciplinary hot water for speaking his mind when previously in charge. Hence biscuit-gate and a bizarre interview when he offered the immortal line: “three cheers for Sireli Bobo”. That he has little time for post-match platitudes, means he has been determined to keep a low profile on his return to north London.

“It stole my joy the previous time,” he adds. “I wanted to have a low profile. That was my desire. I want to coach or help coach the rugby team. I do not want to be doing interviews. And it’s not because of you or anybody else.

“It’s not because I’m mean or I think I’m better than other people. I think the input people can get is brilliant from the people that work with me. To be put over as an arrogant person that thinks he’s better than interviews, it’s not at all that. My motivation is completely different. It’s how do I just get on with my job and help coaching this rugby team. That is my desire.

“I am going to be authentic. And then I am going to have to go to Dublin and sit in some hearing and get a €10,000 fine. So I just want to prevent that. At my age, we actually look at life and go – I call them joy givers and joy stealers. There are things that give me joy and I do more of them. There are things that steal my joy and I cut them out of my life. And that was one of the things that took my joy.”

It all raises the question: Why did Venter choose to come back? He had remained at the club in a consultancy role, while working as a GP in South Africa, but was persuaded to take the reins after McCall signalled it was time for him to step back.

“I love coaching rugby, I love coaching, I love working with people,” he says. “I love working with the players. It is a privilege which we get as human beings to be in a position where we can influence things for the good and the bad. People in life really get that privilege. When I work as a doctor, I have that same privilege. I have people coming to ask me for an opinion and I can treat them in a good way.

“Rugby is an amazing game because it is so complex and you don’t get to beat rugby. Rugby is always a step ahead of you. There are always more clever people than you. Rugby is very much like winemaking. When you get arrogant or you get too confident, you will not make a great wine. It is exactly the same as rugby.

“We are privileged enough to be doing that on a daily basis. You know what? Nobody has died. That is an unbelievable privilege. That privilege normally happens in way more high-stakes environments like Ukraine or the Gaza Strip where people are actually dying when there are challenges. Yes, we have challenges and our body perceives it the same. It is a challenge and our ability to deal with it is a privilege. This is why I came back.”