New man for the job

If ANYBODY still felt that Allister Coetzee was the right man to take the Boks to RWC 2019, they should surely have been disabused of that view following the Boks’ recent unconvincing performance in Europe.

The players who could have injected some oomph into the game all bruised their backsides on the bench – players like Rudy Paige, Lukhanyo Am and Curwin Bosch.

Why, oh why do they persist in crashball and up-and-under tactics after it is patently obvious that this archaic style of play simply does not win matches? It’s not surprising that Etzebeth is injured. He is 100% predictable and has paid the price.

Rugby has moved on, and the good teams – New Zealand, England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland – are playing a brand of clever rugby, which is a pleasure to watch.

Northern hemisphere teams have taken huge strides of late, helped perhaps by southern hemisphere coaches and players.

It took Jake White four years to mould the 2007 RWC- winning Bok team.

Under Toetie’s watch, we have sunk to sixth place on the rankings. For us to have any chance for RWC 2019, surely a coach of Eddie Jones’ calibre has to be appointed? Why not Johan Ackermann? Perhaps at this juncture, an Oliver Cromwell quotation is appropriate?

“You have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately. Depart, I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!” Gavin Hillyard Somerset West