Give Coetzee a chance

NEWLY appointed Springbok coach Allister Coetzee should have been given the job way back in 2007. After all, he was second-in-command when Jake White secured the second annexing of the Webb Ellis Cup for South Africa on French soil.

Coetzee also served as assistant to Harry Viljoen in 2000. But the role of guiding the fortunes of the country’s most successful national team is nobody’s birthright. We say: better late than never. Now that the man from Grahamstown has ascended to the green and gold throne, he deserves nothing but support to carry out his duties without hindrance.

The bigots have already started spewing bile, screaming that standards will drop just because a black man is in charge of the team. It’s a misguided belief and one dispelled by the first black man to get the job, Peter de Villiers. He was the first South African coach to beat the mighty All Blacks in their own back yard in 10 years, in 2008. He also won the Tri-Nations.

Coetzee is his own man. A student of the game, his body of work at Western Province, which he led to two Currie Cups, and the Stormers, which he guided to four play-off finishes in his six-year spell, speaks of a man of ability. Given the challenges of transformation, or lack thereof, that bedevil the Boks, there is no better man than Coetzee to tackle the job. The Stormers are the most transformed of South Africa’s Super Rugby franchises, thanks to him.

Some do not welcome his appointment because he has no international experience, points that were not raised when Heyneke Meyer and even White got the gig. Coetzee must be left alone to do his job to the best of his ability. He has four years to mirror the team in the image of something all South Africans can be proud of. Haak, Allister.