The Allister Coetzee Experience IT’S BOK TO BASICS
| The coach’s philosophy will be measured against that of his predecessors
RUDOLF Straeuli didn’t have the patience for it, Jake White popularised it, Peter de Villiers clung on to it, while under Heyneke Meyer experience was expediently used to paper over the cracks.
In fact, some erstwhile Springbok coaches turned experience into a swear word.
Allister Coetzee too will lean on experience when he next weekend assembles his first Springbok group for the three-match series against Ireland.
Team selection at this time is a highly emotive subject and while Coetzee will rely on experience in certain areas, he more than any of his predecessors will have to use the test arena as a finishing school. All too often the Super Rugby supply line goes offline.
Coetzee will next week announce a group of 54 players for the Springboks and the South African A side to play the England Saxons.
For the assignment against the Irish he could pick a group of about 33, perhaps 34, players and there will be some old hands too.
When he worked as White’s assistant he had a front-row seat in the assembly of a squad deliberately and systematically put together over four years.
De Villiers, typically in a roundabout way, talked up the value of experience when he was put on the spot in the weeks after his appointment in 2008. He tried to explain that experience had to be relative to what was required.
“I’ve been watching television for 30 years. But if the thing breaks I can’t fix it,” he back then told bewildered TV hosts.
A few weeks ago Coetzee also extolled the virtues of experience on these pages.
“You have to make sure you are replacing it with something better before you throw away experience,” insisted Coetzee.
Of last year’s World Cup squad Jean de Villiers, Victor Matfield, Jannie du Plessis, Bismarck du Plessis, Willem Alberts, Schalk Brits, Francois Louw, Bryan Habana, Zane Kirchner, Duane Vermeulen, Ruan Pienaar and Morne Steyn are all playing abroad.
Not all are available for selection. De Villiers has retired from test rugby, and Toulon-based Habana won’t be available for the series against Ireland. He will attempt to add an Olympic gold in Rio to his World Cup winners medal from Paris in 2007.
Fourie du Preez dropped the curtain on his illustrious career.
Coetzee has carte blanche when it comes to selecting from abroad, but it also drives up costs, which means he is likely to invite just three overseas players. Louw has established himself as a respected test flank and the need for his continued involvement was underlined when Marcell Coetzee suffered long-term injury.
Vermeulen has developed into a bruiser of a No 8, although it is debatable whether his club Toulon are as imposing now as they were before his arrival.
With Du Preez having stepped aside and Cobus Reinach injured, the Springboks suddenly appear a little thin at nine. Their absence means there may be room for Pienaar.
The veteran is revered by Ulstermen, but here his talents are less enthusiastically received.
World Cup tourist Rudy Paige and Lions dynamo Faf de Klerk are the other likely candidates.
Coetzee is unlikely to name a captain that is based abroad, but he is keeping his options open. He insists that the captain’s status in the match-day 23 should be beyond reproach, but he will no doubt also have to factor in the player’s longevity. IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Allister Coetzee will assemble his first Springbok squad for the three-match series against Ireland
You have to make sure that you are replacing it with something better before you throw away experience Coetzee can select from abroad, but it also drives up costs, so he is likely to invite just three overseas players