Heyneke Meyer
If international coaches were judged on passion for their country rather than results, Heyneke Meyer would rank alongside anyone in rugby union’s history. Never has a badge been gripped so tightly at anthem time. The 48-year-old lived each game as if his life depended on it. When the Springboks won it was all worthwhile; when they lost it was painful to behold.
Sadly, it was those gut-twisting defeats that Meyer could ultimately not escape. Not unlike Stuart Lancaster with England, he will be remembered as an extraordinarily decent man who could not quite generate sufficient on-field success. To be the coach of a Springbok team beaten by Japan at a World Cup is hardly a recipe for securing a shiny new four-year contract.
And so Meyer has stepped off the stressful, unpredictable Bok wagon before he was pushed. On his better days – and South Africa won 67% of their games under his stewardship – the Boks were well-motivated, grimly physical, defensively impressive and tricky to beat. On the debit side he persisted with senior players who were visibly past their best and South Africa’s attacking game was seldom as dangerous as their leading rivals.
That aspect of the game is continually evolving and maybe Meyer knew in his heart of hearts that, even if reappointed, he could not simply revert to the uncomplicated, forward-dominated method that worked so well during his provincial glory days with the Blue Bulls in Pretoria. South Africa also lost to Argentina for the first time before the World Cup and, while gritty in their performances against Wales and New Zealand, rarely looked like repeating their triumph of 2007.
“Since returning from England I have realised that as much as I believe I still have a lot to offer, the time has come for change,” Meyer said. “My integrity has always been very important and I feel I can leave with my head held high. I’ve always maintained that my only motivation was to serve my country and to do what was best for the Springboks.”
He will also have been aware of the rising external pressure from those who feel transformation within South African rugby requires fresh impetus. Rather than following England’s example and appointing an overseas coach, Meyer’s likely successor is Allister Coetzee, who hails from the Eastern Cape and would appease the vocal lobby who insist the Springboks remain too white in their thinking.
Coetzee, 52, was an assistant coach alongside Eddie Jones when South Africa won the World Cup in 2007 under Jake White and has coached the Stormers in Cape Town for the past six years. He has just started a new job in Japan with Kobe Kobelco Steelers but, as Jones has just shown, that does not preclude him from a U-turn should a national union come calling.
The experienced Coetzee is also a less divisive figure than South Africa’s first black coach, Peter de Villiers, and, if appointed, would be able to select from an increasingly deep pool of youthful promise in the shape of players such as Handre Pollard and Jesse Kriel. The South African Rugby Union, however, is also committed to non-whites making up half of all domestic and national squads by 2019. During the World Cup they were required to include seven non-white players, including two black Africans, in their 23-man match squads.
Juggling such imperatives with the need to keep winning Test matches makes the South Africa coaching job as demanding as any in the world. Many of the provincial unions, who were due to vote next week on whether or not to retain Meyer, were already agitating for his removal, with the Western Province president, Thelo Wakefield, suggesting “drastic changes are needed if we want to move South African rugby forward”.
Coetzee, accordingly, could be installed swiftly as the Boks prepare to enter an intriguing new phase. “We have reached a natural watershed in many ways with a significant number of senior players either retiring or moving overseas as well as the fact our strategic transformation plan is now in full swing,” said Saru’s president Oregan Hoskins.
South Africa’s next fixture is not until next June but Meyer’s successor will have his hands full from the outset.
theguardian
@ Angostura:
Nice article… it convinced me even more that Gert Smal will make a massive mistake if he does NOT appoint Mitchell as head coach of the Stormers.
@ provincefan:
Welcome. Love the balanced view.
Meyer has gone but he remains an enigma for me. I still believe that he had the players across the board to win the WC, yet identifying the correct ones to play on the day was somewhat of a problem. Quotes like ‘ he is a player that knows Northern Hemisphere conditions’ just didn’t ring true to me when it comes to selection. Pick a player on form and what he can bring to lift the performance of the collective based around a game plan that is intelligent when considering the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition, plus having a flexibility within that plan that takes into account the conditions, the referee, injuries, sin bins and curve balls the opposition may throw at you.
Looking back at the WC semi final there were basic things the Bok had not considered the Abs would ask questions of them. The Bok and Meyer expected the Abs to kick short from re-starts on the halfway and had their four pod groupings around the 10 metre line to combat this, yet the Abs went long, and the Bok found themselves under pressure from the get go as if they hadn’t practised exit strategies to get out of their 22. The Abs pinpointed a weakness I was unaware the Bok had with their relieving kicking personnel. The Bok lineout was also their Achilles heel. So much of the Bok attack comes through their driving maul, yet they were out thought there as well. Not only in the air sometimes but also in formation of the maul with the Abs getting that split selection impetus on the defensive shove to disrupt cohesion, thus blunting the drive.
After the game when Bryan Habana was interviewed he spoke of the tactic of the Abs putting those little grubbers and stabbing kicks in behind the Bok and they weren’t expecting that. This surprised me as this tactic employed by most Nz teams when confronted with wet conditions.
I believe that Meyer needed other coaches around him. To ask the questions about what if this happens or if the opposition decide to do this, different permutations. Thus coming up with a flexible plan that allows your team to counter opposition moves. Meyer’s dexterity of mind was lacking and at Test level if you have weaknesses, then you will be found out and not unsurprisingly Meyer was found out….
Thanks grootblousmile,Angostura and Lion4ever…
Howzit with you all?I was gonna write up something about Korporaal Hoskins and his side-kick Jurie,but I guess the less I say about them the better and that’s criticism in itself about the two,no malice towards the man intended,just losing my passion for the game fast.
Anyway,I though I’ll write up what’s gone wrong with SA Rugby at the minute at least my take on matters and factors that’s bringing our rugby down in the country,so here goes…
1.The Rand…
The local currency is taking a quite hammering every which way you look at it and it looks like it’s getting worse by the minute…http://www.ft.com/fastft/2015/12/07/south-africa-on-ratings-slippery-slope/…Hence 350 plus contracted rugby players either playing in Europe or in Japan.Large number of those boys are still under 25 and are definitely SR quality, young Ginger Ninga Kitshoff comes to my mind and a few that are certainly of TEST quality I’m pretty sure.Then of course there is Cheeky-gate that’s leaving the Kings in a real old mess.
2.SA Politics in Sport…
Quotas,whether you like it or not,but the SARU bosses wants 50% non-white players at RWC 2019 and that’s regardless of whether or not they good enough,let alone the best in their position.The selection of the next Bok coach,in all likelihood will be Allister Coetzee,has serious political overtones to it and what makes his appointment a political issue is that no foreign coach would ever agree to a set KPI that he has achieve,whilst not being able to select the best possible team that’s available to him.So that now makes South African coaches the politicians of SA.At one time New Zealand weren’t allowed to select certain part of their population,but they were still allowed to pick the best out of the rest of their demographics.South Africa goes the complete opposite direction in the next 4 years with wanting 50% black players represented regardless if they good enough or the best in their position,but just because they NON-WHITE.
3.Mindset of the Coaches and Players rugby-related…
Jake the Snake,said “Australian rugby players play smarter rugby than SA”(http://www.iol.co.za/sport/rugby/brumbies-smarter-than-sa-players-white-1.1537023#.Vmg3S9KLRdg)and then got ridiculed for saying that from certain quarters in the SA public,but it’s true sadly and the reason being is that rugby in SA is played mostly by Private School Educated boys which lend itself to the macho,aggressive,”boykie” neanderthal nonsense and not the open your minds,be innovative,always willing to try new moves,new ideas type of mindset/approach that’s so common in New Zealand and Australia.
4.South Africa is governed by strong provincial unions similar to Europe,but with Europe it’s the RICHER clubs that dominates…
The only positive from this is that the Currie Cup will always be strong,the negative is that these players are not centrally contracted like players in New Zealand.Then compare that to Australia where rugby union is the 7th most watchable sport in their country and it has to compete with Rugby League & the AFL,so that in itself motives every coach and player to do their utmost to keep their public interested and entertained,whilst in SA rugby there is just not that kind of pressure to entertain.Then of course transformation is said to be TOO SLOW in the past 20 years they’ve been trying to move it forward as fast as they can humanly could and then added to all this TWO of the biggest sponsors pulls out to make matters even worse for the sport.
5.SA failing to do everything in their power to win…
Quotas,money,politics,skills set,size,power,sheer pace,poor understanding of the fundamentals of rugby,overseas players being selected,match officials,wet weather,tiredness,fitness levels…you can put all of that as an excuse,but it’s NOT the reason why we were losing to Argentina,Japan,Wallabies,AB’s,Wales/Ireland(in 2014)…those “problems” if I’m allowed to call it that,would NEVER stop teams like Australia or New Zealand from fighting to WIN as they will do EVERYTHING they can to win.Australia do get wiped off the park a few times occasionally,but it still doesn’t stop them from trying new ways of winning.The scourge of SA Rugby is that we too scared to try something new and original and nobody is held accountable,Meyer always fabricating a “reason from out of thin air” to is media buddies,but never accountable.Heyneke Meyer’s philosophy of “you must play through your 9” was always gonna be too rigid and at the heart of it his team’s inability to go all the way or win anything in 4 years that’s he has been in charge of the Boks,showed that the Boks under him never connected the two concepts of fighting spirit and putting more points on the board then the opponent.The AB’s did all the hard work beforehand,the analysis and all that and then they made sure they followed through with it.
@ provincefan:
Nice post again.
Point 4 is excellent, rugby does not have enough competition to drive innovation… The only innovation they need is transformation to grow… Saru knows that provincial rivalry will keep people interested in rugby… However they cant rely on that forever.
95 @ MacroPolo:
Flok, where has this dude, provincefan, been hiding?
He makes sense and gets it accross well!
Was he also an earstwhile Voldy blogger, or something?
Hy is nie ‘n poephol met ‘n peester aangeplak en so klompie senings en kak en hare nie!
87/94: nee regtig Provincefan, jy maak te veel sense, sal jou naam moet verander!
Nog altyd HM se passie waardeer, maar hy het regtig oorboord gegaan die laaste 2 jaar.
In sy jare by Bulle was hy baie rustiger, die bok afrigter pos het hom nie goed gedoen nie. Soos almal al reeds genoem het, sy eintlike beurt moes in 2008 gewees het, nie in 2012 nie.
Glo hy kan wel nog baie vir rugby beteken, dalk op ‘n ander vlak as afrigter?
Iets anders: geluk aan die Titans van SA wat teen die oorsese huursoldaat span van Durban, die Dolphins speel in die T20 finaal Saterdag.
Wonder of die Dolphins dalk nie ook vir Gayle, McCullum en Warner gaan kry vir Saterdag om te wen nie.
grootblousmile wrote:
Haha ek kon nooit die voldy ding verstaan nie. Voldemort is die bad guy van die harry potter boeke, MORDOR is die donker plek van lord of the rings, wat meer sin sal maak in die konteks van keo.coza.
98 @ MacroPolo:
Nee, Mark Keohane is Lord Voldemort, die “Bad Guy”!
98 @ MacroPolo:
Mordor is daai Lelike stad… dis hoekom ek WITBANK, Mordor noem!
Some great sensible and poignant comments.
Welcome provincefan. Nice to see some well structured and thought out ideas.
GBS, at this rate you’ll have enough great Rugby minds on RT to force a Coup at SARU, and then we can target the old farts in Dublin.
101 @ Scrumdown:
Hahaha
The 2 of us alone could sort them out, one time!
provincefan wrote:
Very true
When I said the same Nama crapped himself
First the Nats refused Maori players in the All Blacks, now the ANC don’t want whites in the Boks
It’s 50% now but wait a couple of years
Remember the white guy in Bafana Bafana in 2010?
The tall Pom who was the poster child for the New SA with his black wife and kids?
How many games did he play in the 2010 WC?
provincefan wrote:
Snor said so as well the other day, the Kiwi’s are educated and all have jobs to return to after their playing careers
Look at McCaw, he’s a helicopter pilot
Compare it to our muscular Neanderthals
In the old days we had doctors (Divan, probably the smartest player ever, Daan Dup) and lawyers and the like playing for the Boks
Now it’s only Doc Jannie, an average prop at most
Victoriabok wrote:
You are probably referring to Matthew Booth .. he is no Pom though but was borne and schooled in Fish Hoek ( Skopskiet’s village 🙂 …. He was always a huge crowd favourite and the crowd used to go Boooooooth!! every time he touched the ball. The reason why he stayed on the bench during the 2010 WC was because the Brazilian, Carlos Perreira, who coached the team never rated him.
And Dean Furman regularly plays for Bafana Bafana …
@ robzim:
@ Angostura:
Saw a link to a newspaper article a while ago that showed that Bafana had played more white players than the Boks and Proteas COMBINED had played “players of colour” since 1994.
So those who scream about transformation in soccer should actually do their research before gobbing off.
SA sport is truly a quagmire of political faeces waiting to be spread across the land by a Zuma sized fan.
Scrumdown wrote:
Please post the link, I would like to verify it
This is potentially quite an emotive topic for any sides of the spectrum folk look at it but the points raised here seem to have been made in a pretty civil way, thanks folks
108 @ Victoriabok:
Hi Vicbok, don’t have the answer to your question, will leave that to Scrumdown. However, here is an article from 2006 that mentions at that point since 1992 – “32 white” players had played for Bafana Bafana, don’t know the rest of the numbers of how many players in total were selected for national duty during that time:
http://www.iol.co.za/sport/where-have-the-white-soccer-players-gone-1.553192#.Vmr9WMvuPIU
Another article from 2013 mentions the numbers of white players who were playing in the top league in SA and those overseas, thought it quite an interesting read:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/21/southafrica-sport-divided-race
And the new Springbok coach is?
Come, come SARU, you said you were naming him/her today…
103 @ Victoriabok:
Difference between yo0u and Provincefan is that you only beat the transformation drum as a reason for the Boks poor showing or possible future poor performances. Provincefan, on the other hand, looked at it holistically and give various plausible reasons why the Boks are not doing so well as we all want them to do.
Really showed your ignorance wrt soccer when you called Booth a Pom here. The guy played in the Sidney Olympics for SA with people like Benni Mc Carthy, Quinton Fortune etc.
100% SA beef, that boy.
#106: Your request wrt a link that will provide proof that more white players turned out for Bafana than African Blacks for the Boks?
Google: National team representation since 1992.
You’ll find that 39 white players donned the Bafana jersey in this period compared to 20 black players that played for the Boks and 12 for the Proteas.
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