Note to Coetzee: Kitch built his world beaters in six months
THE late Kitch Christie took charge of the Springboks in the autumn of 1994 which meant he had been given all of six months to find a team to win the World Cup in South Africa at the end of that season. Far from being the least bit daunted, Christie rubbed his hands in anticipation despite having inherited a losing team.
“Six months is long enough,’’ he told me at the start of that European tour. “That gives you all the preparation time you need.’’
Just about anyone else in his position would have done then what almost every coach does now, stress the long-term nature of the task and win a suitably long-term contract. Christie spoke like a man who knew what he was doing.
Six months later, he duly kept his word, thanks to Joel Stransky’s extra-time drop-goal against the All Blacks at Ellis Park. Christie, forced by leukemia to resign after winning all 14 Tests in charge of the Boks, died from the illness three years later at 58.
His achievement is the answer to those who argue that the current Springbok coach, the beleaguered Allister Coetzee, has not been in the job long. Just the time it took Christie to beat the world.