We could say the following in euphemisms, with kid gloves, if you like, but what the heck let us just say it like it really is: Springbok coach Allister Coeztee (AC ) must be fired by the South African Union the moment this Springbok team concludes an utterly miserable year that could conceivably have included with a loss to Italy (don’t joke), and then an almost certain loss to Wales in the tour finale in Cardiff.
It really is as bad and as serious as that. Rugby critics and luminaries have been saying this since June. Coetzee and his coaching staff are out of their depth and the issue is that the team gets worse each week, not better. This is quite possibly the worst ever Springbok coaching staff in 120 years of Test rugby in this country.
caption AC with OTC at Heart ( the short bloke in the middle ) with ran from 9-10am on Sat Morning
Coetzee heads a side that does not know how it is expected to play. Some of Coetzee’s selections are simply nonsensical, and the reality is that after 10 Tests in charge Coetzee simply CANNOT continue as captain of a ship that is going backwards.
There is no discernible game plan with an eye on the future. It is about picking a team each week that will do damage limitations.
A loose trio against England at the weekend comprising Willem Alberts, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Warren Whiteley? To be fair, that was about trying stop the England pack from bullying the Boks at the breakdown. But where was an openside flank to slow down the England ball and win turnovers for the Boks? Yes, there injuries in the position but heck this is about winning Test matches and I would have flown in Heinrich Brussow from Outer Mongolia (or wherever the heck he is …).
Coetzee must go now! There are still three years to the Word Cup in Japan. That is enough time for a coach like Johan Ackermann to come in and straighten out the mess, identify a game plan, pick appropriate players, and get the Boks on track.
The England victory over the Boks illustrates the point about how quickly a coach can make n impact. Less than a year ago they were the laughing stock of their country. They had had a very nice man in Stuart Lancaster as coach but he could not instil a hard edge in the England team and they failed to make the last eight of their own World Cup. England was a joke.
Less than a year later, England have won 11 games in a row under a feisty, fiery bomb-waiting-to-go-off Australian in Eddie Jones.
There is no more Mr Nice Guy. He picked as his first captain a hooker that had been regularly in the judiciary dock for dirty play, including biting. His point was that England would no longer back down from anybody. England are unbeaten under Jones and have climbed to No 2 on the world rankings
The Springboks, under the smiling Toetie, have fallen apart since losing by two points to the All Blacks in the 2015 World Cup semi-finals and well beating Argentina to the bronze medal (all under coach Heyneke Meyer).
In 2016 the Boks have lost six out of 10 Tests and conceded a staggering 31 tries.
How can this be? It is a disgrace that the Boks have conceded 31 tries in 2016. Well coached ….????!!!!
I am sick of hearing about the shock losses to Japan, Argentina and Ireland, as well as the whippings by the All Blacks in Christchurch and Durban.
Let me put this to you. If you were the Italy rugby team, and you obviously had seen the form of the Boks in 2016, would you not be licking your slips and slapping yourself together for a giant-slaying act? Would you not be seeing this match in Florence on Saturday as your World Cup final?
In over a 100 years, no Italian player has ever truly believed his team had a chance of beating the almighty Springboks. Quite right. Well I can tell you that every single Italian player will be believe that on Saturday in Florence they have a concrete chance of at last beating one of the game’s great giants.
Again, how can it come to this? How can it be possible that Italy will truly believe they can beat the Springboks, and if you are a Bok fan and are not worried … well you should be.
It is as simple as this. Allister Coetzee and his coaching staff are close to useless. They must be fired en masse asap so that the new staff have a full three years to coach the Boks back to glory.
by Mike Greenaway
Martin Myers 
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