Coetzee gets Stick, already
IT IS by now common knowledge “the preferred candidate”, or Allister Coetzee as he is known to his family and the rugby world, will be unveiled as the 13th post-isolation Springbok coach on the 12th of this month.
Former sevens star Mzwandile Stick will be one of his assistants in a new-look, trimmed-down Springbok management and support structure.
“The management team is going to surprise a few people,” a delegate to Friday’s SA Rugby general council meeting told the Sunday Times.
“It is something that we are quite excited about. He did wonders with the EP under-19 squad last year.”
Stick’s stock has risen exponentially over the past year. His Eastern Province team beat the Blue Bulls in the final to claim the under-19 title having won 11 of their 12 matches in the league stages. His success got him elevated to backline coach of the Southern Kings.
Stick’s inclusion, while surprising due to his lack of experience, will find wide favour as he will bring muchneeded gravitas to the management team. One criticism of the previous regime was that Heyneke Meyer’s voice dominated the coaching and decision-making processes.
Desperate to accelerate their Strategic Transformation Plan, SA Rugby are confident the composition of their Springbok management meets that criteria, while being cognisant of the concept of merit.
Another SA Rugby insider confirmed sweeping changes were on the cards with a new doctor in Jerome Mampane, media manager and physiotherapist among others on the cards. Mampane has been part of the SA under-21 management team.
“By 2019 half the Springbok management team has to be black,” the insider said. “Half of that has to be of African ethnicity. SA Rugby will we cannot afford. In a professional environment decisions can’t take this long. It will require a change in the constitution but it is on the table.”
The rest of the management team will more than likely also feature Meyer’s team manager Ian Schwartz, as well as forwards coach Johann van Graan. Both are in Saru’s employ.
The delegate warned, however, that it should not be taken for granted that Van Graan will be reabsorbed into the Bok fold. “He could be deployed anywhere in Saru's structures. He could be used at the under-20s.”
When Coetzee, who coached the Kobelco Steelers to fourth place in Japan’s Top League, finally gets installed as national coach he will know that all the planning and preparation for the international season is in place. When he takes office, he will have six weeks before the team assembles on May 29 ahead of the threetest series against Ireland.
The squad of 30 will probably as- semble in Stellenbosch for their first camp, while a second camp will in all likelihood be held in August.
That camp will be in preparation for the Rugby Championship which starts on 20 August against Argentina at the Mbombela Stadium, as well as the end-of-year tour involving matches in November against the Barbarians, England, Italy and Wales.
Coetzee will have to hit the deck running and he will have to know that his four-year contract will demand he establishes Springbok rugby as a unifying force. He needs no reminding that the atmosphere was acrid with acrimony as South Africans watched last year's World Cup.
Asked if SA Rugby had a Plan B should unforeseen circumstances render Coetzee unavailable, the delegate said: “The preferred candidate will be at the press conference on the 12th.”