Boardroom wars Khoza wades into Ndoro saga SA Rugby stumbles into a foggy dawn Markram is SA’s ace in the pack

Newly installed coaching boss Rassie Erasmus is as tight-lipped as Toetie

www.sundaytimes.co.za delcarmel@sundaytimes.co.za

● SA Rugby this week cut another Springbok coach adrift — this time at a price.

Allister Coetzee became the latest to leave office amid an acrid atmosphere, but his path to the exit would have been smoothed by a negotiated severance package.

However, “Toetie” Coetzee, whose contract was supposed to run until the end of next year at an annual cost of around R6million, was only paid around five months in his severance package.

The Sunday Times understands SA Rugby budgeted for Coetzee’s salary on a year-onyear basis and that they would have been in no position to pay him a lump sum had they been legally obliged to do so.

An insider who spoke on condition of anonymity said SA Rugby were in breach of their contract with Coetzee from the start as they did not allow him to assemble his own coaching team. Coetzee would have been entitled to a larger severance package had a strongly worded letter he wrote last month to SA Rugby CEO Jurie Roux not made its way into the public domain last weekend.

Coetzee’s bargaining power was greatly diminished by the letter, especially against Picture: Gallo Images at SuperSport Park

● South Africa’s “Vision 2019” project took a sharp turn towards the future when Aiden Markram (23) was announced as the standin captain for the rest of the ODI series against India.

If ever there was a departure from prioritising bilateral series with the bigger World Cup picture in mind, this was the boldest step taken by a selection panel since Graeme Smith’s ascension to the captaincy in 2003 when Smith was 21.

Markram’s new leadership position is his toughest since his successful Under-19 Cricket World Cup leadership stint in 2014. A rampant Indian team lies in wait ahead of today’s second ODI at his SuperSport Park home ground.

Selection convenor Linda Zondi said they are looking to establish a new leadership group that will take the team forward after the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

The Proteas are without regular skipper Faf du Plessis, whose broken finger rules him out for the entire limited-overs leg.

“We know Markram is new to the set-up but part of our plan is to build a pool of new leaders within the set-up. Markram’s been in our plans since his Under-19 days. We know there will be pressure in terms of him understanding his role and also being able to perform as a player.

“We want to see if he can handle pressure because one part of being a leader is also linked to the ability of being able to handle pressure,” Zondi said.

“We have Khaya Zondo who’s captained South Africa A and senior guys we could have turned to. When you look at the role of the senior players, while we’re looking at Vision 2019, it’s important to look at these guys because they do have these leadership qualities. It can only be beneficial for us to see what Markram can do. It’s a huge opportunity for us to move forward. It’s a sign of planning ahead from the Proteas.”

Markram moves from the Durban frying