Coetzee still Bok coach – for now

SPRINGBOK coach Allister Coetzee remains in his post – for now – after a review committee began its interrogation for the reasons behind the national team’s failures this year.

SA Rugby president Mark Alexander said yesterday the process would continue into next month, increasing the likelihood that Coetzee was going to survive after steering the Boks to only four wins in 12 tests this year.

Last month, Coetzee evaded the question of whether he would resign after the Boks lost 20-18 to Italy, saying it was a decision for his bosses to make.

The coach has a four-year contract and so far SA Rugby has refused to make any public statements about Coetzee’s future.

The governing body has rather pointed to going through a process before any announcements are made. Yesterday marked the first formal part of that process to address the deflating season that saw the Boks lose eight of 12 tests.

But since the Boks lost to Italy in Florence, there have been talks about what direction to take. To sack Coetzee would require SA Rugby jumping through several labour law and financial hurdles.

Insiders suggest that getting rid of Coetzee and the entire backroom staff could cost in the region of R22-million in payouts.

But in the long term, a repeat of this year could cost SA Rugby hundreds of millions in sponsorship revenue.

The hard, but right decision would be to sack Coetzee, who has not performed regardless of myriad structural problems in the local game.

However, it appears SA Rugby is buying time to come up with some sort of compromise.

One weekend newspaper suggested Brendan Venter would be roped in to hold Coetzee’s hand as some sort of assistant/mentor.

“We know Springbok supporters and our partners are looking to us for instant answers and many of them may want to see heads roll,” Alexander said.

“But building winning teams is not an exact science and we want to make sure that the changes we make are the right solutions to our current problems.”

Coetzee and three senior players – retiring captain Adriaan Strauss, Pat Lambie and Tendai Mtawarira – provided their feedback yesterday.

The Springbok Steering Committee, made up of Francois Davids and James Stoffberg (who were instrumental in Coetzee’s appointment), led the feedback session, which also included SA Rugby chief executive Jurie Roux.

The committee received feedback on technical, tactical, operational, logistical and personnel matters and what impact management and players believed they might have had on team performance.

“This has been a period of introspection for SA Rugby with all of us looking at our role in a dreadful season. That process will continue into January as we examine the options at our disposal,” Alexander said.

“We will act upon whatever interventions are identified as being necessary by all involved. I would expect that process to be completed before the end of January,” he said.

‘ We want to make sure that the changes we make are the right solutions to our current problems