Should Heyneke fall?

Yesterday, we invited readers to send us their views on whether Heyneke Meyer should be retained as Springbok coach ...

◗ Heyneke Meyer must go, he is clearly backward rugby wise and backward every other way. He represents the Afrikaner kragdadige mindset so intrinsic to most Afrikaners drilled into them from childhood which manifests itself in the way they think, the way they think about rugby and ultimately the way they play the game. He also represents the mindset that sees rugby as the last bastion of Afrikaner influence and domination and has clearly raised a middle finger to black representation in the Springboks. Can one expect otherwise from someone drilled from childhood, taught to and still today believes that blacks are not quite human. – William Davy

◗ Hi Ian: Re your topic about Heyneke Meyer – I find it amazing that the so-called “Rugby Experts” are hell-bent on crucifying Meyer for a poor World Cup (and rightly so) yet cannot come up with any decent names to replace him, your rugby writer John Goliath included!! Allister Coetzee?? Johan Ackermann?? Seriously?? It’s so obvious that we need an overseas coach in the mould of Eddie Jones or Robbie Deans (which Mr Goliath did propose last week), with fresh new ideas and a totally new game plan. To even consider local coaches will be a disaster going forward!

– Les Botha

◗ It defies belief that Oregan Hoskins, Jurie Roux and other supposedly forward thinking people, are buying into the the sales pitch of Meyer that SARU should extend his contract for another four years for the sake of continuity and stability. Continuity of mediocrity and failure? He had four years to fashion a team good enough to compete with New Zealand at this year’s World Cup. Instead he gave us dinosaur rugby and a team of has-beens and never-weres. No, South African rugby does not need another four years of Meyer. They need someone with vision and foresight.

– Mark Small

◗ John, I would like to commend you on your criticism of Heyneke Meyer. Bringing on Rudy Paige with only four minutes left to play was disgraceful and showed a man totally out of touch with reality and the much needed requirement of transformation. On that score alone he should be fired as Springbok coach. His omission of Elton Jantjes and Lionel Mapoe is another case in point. His constant reference to the Lord and Jesus is totally out of place in a secular country such as South Africa and to suggest that his team is blessed, intimating that his opponents are not, is inflammatory and also embarrassing to most rugby fans who also have to put up with his undignified antics during the match. On the rugby front, he has a mindset that will never change and his statement that South African rugby players are not skilled enough to play any other way is insulting and blatantly untrue. –

Don Nelson

◗ Morning John: Would SA rugby really be that dof to keep Meyer on? I can’t watch this kick and charge shit anymore. – Danny Bam

◗ I agree that Heyneke needs to move aside now. He had his chance and gave us a mediocre return by Springbok standards. I just hope we don’t fall into the trap of making “transformation” the primary selection criteria of the new coach. That’s why a foreigner would be good. No racial bias either black or white. No territorial claim. Just results focused. We can’t run the double agenda of capping black players for the sake of it and hope to compete for the No 1 ranking.

– Rens Rezelman

◗ It is time to say goodbye to Heyneke Meyer. If I focus, in particular, on the game for third and fourth place, it was on this occasion, when he showed his inability to appreciate the opportunity to blood some of the younger players. Failure to inject a new scrumhalf,locks and loose forwards from the reserves was typical of a coach who has not only lost the plot, but HAS no plot. This squad has been coached to play the same old rubbish that other countries have totally rejected.

– Fred Levy

◗ As an ardent Springbok supporter I hate losing, but all retaining Heyneke Meyer will do is limit the losing margin to the best teams. Lose we still will, and lose ugly just like we have been doing under his tenure. – Dirk Louw

◗ Let’s be fair: Meyer coached the team to play attractive running rugby against the ABs and Wallabies during the Rugby Championship that everybody raved about but leading to turnovers that cost us the game by a bigger margin than against the ABs in the WC (as Cheika found out in the final, don’t take them on where they are strongest). He was the only coach to come up with a game plan to stifle them in the WC and that semi we lost largely to two SA errors: De Jager missing a tackle and JP coming off his defensive line against Barrett (hardly the coach’s fault). Pieter Oosthuizen

Hi Ian: Absolutely, Meyer has to go!! He has failed on all fronts and all we ever hear from him is a lot of platitudes. His favourites include that the team will learn from this, we are building, we are on an upward curve blah di blah fish paste! Stop learning, start playing and winning for heavens sake! Jake Millar

Johan Ackermann has turned an initial no star team into the best team in the country. If he can do this with a provincial side he can surely do the job for the Springbok team. Every member of the Golden Lions pulls his weight. There are players like Jaco Kriel and Warren Whiteley who should have been selected. So forget about importing coaches Give Ackermann a chance. Jeff Scher

Meyer must go. Black players don’t carry the tackle bags anymore, they have become the tackle bags. Australia had more black players in their team in the final. Meyer must go and take Oregan Hoskins with him. Llewellyn Cupido

Hi Ian Smit: I am white, fairly elderly, English speaking and totally disagree with the sentiments of yourself, John Goliath and Jan Maree. World Cup and test matches are played to be won, by whatever means it takes. If you guys want to see flamboyant open rugby I suggest you follow the Barbarians matches. The Springbok World Cup victories in 1995 and 2007 were achieved without scoring any tries and the coach in each case were not put to the sword because of a lack of spreading the ball wide. The 20-18 scoreline was closer than any other team that played the All Blacks .Had that kick been in the Springboks favour Heyneke Meyer would have been a hero as I am confident the Springboks would have beaten Australia in the final.