Just for a change, the Springboks have a brand-new coach. Will he be able to change their fortunes for the better, after lackluster results that included the devastating defeat to Japan? Here’s what lies in store for Coach Coetzee.
It’s official. Allister Coetzee is the new Springbok coach, replacing Heyneke Meyer. Coetzee could not have taken over at a more difficult time. A string of disappointing results, and inability to beat the All Blacks, suggest the Springboks are in decline. That loss to Japan is still haunting some Bok fans in their dreams.
Coetzee is certainly the man for the job right now. Having paid his dues as a player and coach, he has ticked all the boxes to lead the Boks into a new and hopefully more successful era.
What are the big changes and challenges he is going to encounter? Good question. Let’s take a look.
Selections: When coaching a SuperRugby franchise, your team starts to pick itself once it gets into a rhythm. As a new Bok coach, your player pool is naturally a great deal bigger, so additional considerations become an instant reality.
You have access to every South African rugby player. Sounds great, but it can also be a headache. Coetzee will want the overseas talent to be a part of the mix, but with that comes some logistical issues.
He’ll want to work with the players he knows and trusts from the Stormers, but he doesn’t want to run the risk of showing favouritism. The question of transformation will always be hovering over his head, but will he get the talent he requires at international level, to create a world beating team and not just a representative one?
Game Plan: Everyone is demanding a change in game plan for the Springboks. Coetzee first needs to get a bunch of guys together and identify a core unit to work with before he can do anything else. That’s a monumental and stressful change from his franchise days where he developed the basics, then just refined a game plan that suited the established player base.
Personal/professional scrutiny: This is going to be the biggest change for Coetzee, in his public and private life. In many ways the Bok job is a poisoned chalice, and invariably ends in a firing rather than on positive terms. The press will scrutinise his every word, and hang onto things long after they are said. Fans will demand nothing but the best. Then there are the internal stresses and requirements from SARU, a factor that the Stormers job could never have come close to preparing him for.
Team culture: At international level, you really do become more a man manager than anything else. Franchises have a pretty straight forward culture of relatively like-minded players who often fit into a system. International rugby is a lot more demanding as he is now dealing with superstars and not just stars. The group of players that he needs to gel together will be more diverse than usual, and he’ll desperately need the right captain and support staff to help get the most of them. Then there is the increased media demands and global interest in what he and the team are doing.
Touring will be tougher, preparations for matches a great deal more intense. It’s not just a change in scale, but one in focus too.
As testing as all these changes in his coaching life seem, he does of course find himself in the special position of having the top job in SA rugby. This is his professional pinnacle and he has the opportunity to affect change where it is needed most. And that is towards getting the Springboks back where they belong – on top of the rugby world!
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