End of the road for Coetzee?

IF YOU’RE the coach of a major sporting team, whether it be the Springboks or the Proteas (or Manchester United, for that matter), you know that you will be judged on your results. Coaches who win stay in the job, while those who lose eventually get fired. It’s the law of the jungle, but that’s just the way sport works.

So Bok coach Allister Coetzee is going to have a hard time convincing his bosses to keep him on after the Boks slumped to a disappointing 24-22 defeat to what was actually a Wales “B team” in Cardiff.

Since his appointment last year, Coetzee has won 11 out of 25 Tests – a winning percentage of just 44%.

He was in a defiant mode after the defeat, saying he was proud of the team and insisting they were on an upward curve.

Yes, in some ways this year has been an improvement on the horror show of 2016, but we should also not forget that the fifth-ranked Boks have this year failed to beat any of the teams that are currently ranked above them on the world rankings – New Zealand, Australia and Ireland (they didn’t play England).

Victories over France, Argentina and Italy hardly amount to a good year. And whippings of 57-0 by the All Blacks and 38-3 by the Irish came as a massive shock to Bok supporters.

Coetzee, it must be said, has also not helped the cause with his lack of a clear and incisive game plan.

Even more importantly, he has come up with some baffling selections, with the decision to play talented Bulls fullback Warrick Gelant on the wing against Wales, and the lack of any proper game time for Lukhanyo Am just two of a long list of examples.

Rassie Erasmus has just taken over as director of SA Rugby, and already there is strong speculation that he will take over the team and that Coetzee will be axed.

Whatever happens, we hope sensible decisions are made for the good of the brand. We all want the Boks to be atop the world rankings again.