Give Coetzee a chance

COACHING any national team comes with added pressure, and Allister Coetzee finds himself in a desperate situation just a few months into his Springboks reign.

Coetzee, who took over as Bok coach in April, has barely settled into his office and already there are calls for his head, after the team was battered in recent matches.

Some of the calls for Coetzee to be sacked have been so vehement that you could be misled into thinking that he’s been in charge for years. Yet when they lost to the mighty All Blacks last weekend in Christchurch, the Boks were playing only their seventh game under him.

Coetzee has not really set the scene alight, with the Boks losing in his very first match against Ireland, before bouncing back to win the next two Tests and seal the series in July.

Already after that series win, some had started to question the Boks’ competence under him. It didn’t help that another loss followed soon thereafter, away to Argentina, as even those who supported Coetzee started to doubt him.

The latest back-to-back defeats to Australia and New Zealand – traditionally difficult sides for the Boks – have only served to give more ammunition to his detractors.

Not since 2009 have the Boks managed to beat the All Blacks in their backyard. So it fascinates us that anyone expected Coetzee’s team to upset the world champions last week.

Granted, the performance could have been better, not least after a close first half, but the Boks have had shockers in the last few years that it is grossly unfair to simply blame one man for the sorry decline. For example, we remember how, in last year’s World Cup, they were stunned by Japan.

We feel the incessant noise surrounding Coetzee and his job is unwarranted so early. If anything, we call for him to be supported in the next two tests: against the Wallabies and All Blacks, starting next weekend.