HIS FAILINGS

ALLISTER Coetzee is a friendly man with an inclusive style of management, which in some environments are perfect traits for success. But in a transitional year at the cutting edge of elite sport, they are characteristics that have hurt him.

From the outset, Coetzee’s single biggest failing was accepting the job under difficult conditions. He was anxious to leave Japan after a brief stint with Kobe Kobelco Steelers, but more importantly he has always wanted the Bok job.

In 2007, when SA Rugby inexplicably asked then-coach Jake White and any other interested candidates in the Bok coaching job to apply for the post, Coetzee was caught in an awkward position.

He was White’s assistant but also had ambitions of getting the top job, which in retrospect he should have had in 2008 having spent four years as assistant coach.

Uncomfortably, Coetzee informed White he was going to apply for the position, two weeks before the Boks lifted the World Cup in France. In the end, the Springbok top job went to the controversial Peter de Villiers and Coetzee’s first chance had gone.

So when the opportunity presented itself again this year, he jumped at the chance, despite some of the shackles placed on him that he is now unhappy about.

“I knew that I had to take the job despite the hand that I had been dealt,” Coetzee said. “You never know when you might get the opportunity again.”

Coetzee was only appointed in April and only knew he had the job in late March. It was a situation that was always going to undermine his planning for the year, which has been evident throughout this season.

There were no Bok planning camps during Super Rugby and one of the conditions he had to accept was a backroom staff, with the exception of forwards coach Matt Proudfoot, that was chosen for him. Can you imagine Eddie Jones, or Steve Hansen accepting a team not of their choosing? Coetzee though was forced into a position of “take it under those conditions or leave it”.

By accepting the job on unfavourable terms Coetzee let his desire to be Bok coach override his judgment.

“Certain things can only be agreed at board level and the decision was made this year that there would be no training camps, and I had to make the best of getting things done with interventions where I could,” Coetzee said.

The coach is not wrong in his portrayal of what were trying circumstances under

With the benefit of hindsight I might have done things a bit differently, especially in terms of selecting more combinations early on

which to take the job but he has erred along the way too.

Instead of backing the core of an in-form Lions team for the June series, considering he had so little time to make a team, he set himself back further. Coetzee’s integration of overseas-based players has also been haphazard and by yesterday’s game he had decided that the only way forward was to pick locally based players.

“With the benefit of hindsight I might have done things a bit differently, especially in terms of selecting more combinations early on,” Coetzee said.

Game plans, not settling on a defence coach and at times confused team selection might have been influenced by external factors but there is no doubt Coetzee could have handled those aspects more competently during 2016.