I just read this blog called Sore Eye. Some of the reactions are posted at the bottom of the article. What do YOU think?

Allister Coetzee is a talker, a great talker, but perhaps an interminable talker. Funny, articulate, intelligent, passionate, the kind of talker who silences the braai with one-man entertainment. He’s the leading contender, they say, for Bok coach. Who knows what SARU will do, but I reckon Allister Coetzee is not the man.

 

Yes, Allister Coetzee is a rugby man to the core, and handles the pressure with practiced ease. I really like him – he’s a quintessential rugby man. At heart he’s a politician qualifying him for dealing with SARU’s melodramas. He’s also astute and experienced as his track record shows. Assistant to Jake White, winner of the de facto Currie Cup – the SA Round of the Super Rugby season of 2011, and transformer of the Stormers into two-time home semi-finalists. No silverware, but Jake had less before he took over.

The players also like him because he’s affable. And this is the problem. He’s not a big-stick man. Instead he has vast reservoirs of motivational talk, espoused with inimitable inserts of Kapie banter and infectious laughter. A bit too much talk, methinks, when the calculated one-liner is used by hard coaches as a whip, its utterance laced with menace.

You sense that Graham Henry has this approach down-pat, as did Kitch Christie. Nick Mallet was its most intimidating exponent. Distil the message to its essence, chilli it with some bitter F*cks, and deliver it with a snarl. Unfortunately, this is not AC style. And right now, I reckon the Boks need this severity from a cantankerous bastard with a solid coaching record. A coach who is not their friend, but The Coach.

Thing is, Peter de Villiers left a legacy of garbled miscommunication that must be culled immediately. Personally I liked his motivational speeches – as evidenced by footage inside the Bok change-room during the British Lions tour. But the mangled media-speak, combined with the little squeak, tainted the comms channels in Bok-land. You can’t blame Snor for his genetic attributes but you can say the time has come for more contrite authority. Allister Coetzee, unfortunately, is more continuity than change in this respect.

Now, what is your option? Why disqualify Allister Coetzee on this point? Have you ever been coached by a snarling ff’er? I had coached for numerous years and never had to go down that route to have my teams focused and raring to go for their games.

To be a successful coach, the players need to respect him. Respect is not earned by cursing and screaming, but by the knowledge of the game and above all by the results the coach achieves. He needs to force dicipline, but again, this is very easy if the players respects him.

6 Months ago I had Allister Coetzee as my suggestion for the Bok coaching role, but things have since changed, and, so too, has my impression of him. He has lately come across with a bit of a “lacklustre” attitude and I tend to agree with some of your statements. As nice a chap as he is, we could end up with a Hugh-Reece Edwards and Sharks scenario from years gone back, when Reecey was too “pally-pally” with the Sharks players in his coaching role. Bring on John Mitchell with Rassie Erasmus… they will sort out the Bok squad.

The idea I got from reading Victor’s book was that the coach was too nice, a people pleaser.  “Bring the whips and chains back for a bit, just not Kamp Staaldraad style.I disagree, back in those days (Amateur days) when rugby players came out of the army, the military approach might still have worked. But this is a whole new generation, and a fark you from the coach may well turn into a fark you too from the player, him pissing off to Europe and leaving our talent pool emptied. Think Frans Steyn for example and Div was not even a harsh coach.

Its a new generation and you need to treat them like adults, not like a bunch of army troepe.

9 Responses to Don’t make Allister Coetzee the new Bok coach

  • 1

    Would anyones opinion of AC be changed if the Stormers had won a real trophy or two in the last 2-3 seasons?

    How long did it take the Bulls from making it into the semi’s until they won a Super trophy?
    Did that make Meyer a bad choice for the Boks then?

    In my opinion the next Bok coach should be Brendan Venter with Rassie as his right hand man.

    However, this just wont happen. AC will probably be the next Bok coach, so we need to start getting behind him, otherwise it’s gonna be another 4 long years…

  • 2

    Greenpoint-Gunner wrote:

    Would anyones opinion of AC be changed if the Stormers had won a real trophy or two in the last 2-3 seasons?

    it might have proven my opinion of him wrong. But sadly is just highlighted what he did to our backs. My dislike in him stems from the 4 years he had with Jake the Snake.The fact that he coached almost all the talent out of some of our best Springbok backs. Eddie saved our bacline. AC also killed of all the great backline play of the Stormers.

  • 3

    Gert Smal please.

  • 4

    While AC has done relatively well with the Stormers, he just can’t seem to get them past that last hurdle. They are defensively one of the best around, but have lost that attacking flair they were always famous for. If he becomes coach, I just hope he chooses a backline coach who knows how to bring the attacking flair back. I would hate to see a Lambie or Jantjies messed up because their creativity has been stifled.

  • 5

    Lion4ever wrote:

    I would hate to see a Lambie or Jantjies messed up because their creativity has been stifled.

    HEAR < HEAR

  • 6

    Toetie is actually a magical backline-coach. He is capable of turning the All Black backline into muppets in 2 weeks. 😉

    Gert Smal will be the new coach. No doubt. But it doesn’t solve our problem with the backline. Maybe he can bring Carel back as attacking-coach. And appoint Nienaber as full-time defence coach. Wonderful and easy!

    But between those idiots in SA and WP Rugby, nothing is wonderful and easy. Only morbid and difficult…. 🙁

  • 7

    Smal is a good choice, and maybe let Brendan Venter have a dual role at the U21’s and as backline coach for the Bokke.

    Nienaber would not be a bad option as defence coach. But who would be forwards coach?

  • 8

    Lion4ever wrote:

    But who would be forwards coach?

    Is OS good or not?
    And if Joost was fit he would have been one of my picks too, backline off course.

  • 9

    gert can sommer take the forwards.

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