Embattled Bok coach insists he’s not going

HE RECOGNISES change has to occur but Allister Coetzee yesterday insisted an altered Springbok landscape would include him next year.

“There will have to be change but it is too early [to comment]. I have to discuss it with SA Rugby,” the Bok coach said yesterday on return from the team’s European tour he labelled as “disastrous”.

“I can understand the supporters are disappointed and so are we.

“I’m a guy who will never just walk away. Sometimes things have to go as low as it can get to go up.”

He then provided an analogy that harked back to the days of former Bok coach Peter de Villiers.

“You never lose any triathlon in the water. Maybe in the cycling. If we can prepare better for next season that will already be a massive plus.”

Coetzee has reason to at least feel slightly imbued. He is in possession of a contract that expires in 2019 and has consistently pointed to the systemic problems within SA Rugby in explaining the root cause for his team’s sub par performances.

That said, does he see himself as the right man in the right place at the wrong time?

“Whatever I feel or say, this is the reality. Collaboration is the most important thing in South Africa.”

He called for the “emotion to be taken out of it” and does not see himself as the problem but rather part of the solution.

“Every coach goes through a tough year,” he said. “I say I’d rather take it at the beginning of my tenure than in my third year. Maybe not in my term but hopefully long term this will be the best for South African rugby.”

Coetzee wanted continuity in selection by transitioning as seamlessly as possible from the vastly experienced team that played at the last World Cup to a team that can embrace the challenges of the next four years.

Asked whether he felt the players let him down Coetzee said: “I maybe feel disappointed in our skills levels. The players will own up. I’m disappointed in a lot of things on my management and in myself as well.”

Retiring captain Adriaan Strauss also opted to spread the blame.

“Players also need to take responsibility, and the coaches. We are all responsible for this and we all have to face up. The players need to fight back. They need to realise this is not the standard of Springbok rugby.”