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
@ Ben-die-Bul:
Excellent, excellent post BdB, I was just about to reply to Cane’s: “It’s not you two who should go……………but the fukkers that appointed you” along the exact lines mentioned in your post.
Respect to Meyer for telling Hoskins & his ilk what they can do with their racist affirmative action “transformation” system.
30 @ Ben-die-Bul:
My goodness BiDiBiDi,
Your mastery of English is extraordinary… you should use it more, you make a huge lot of sense… and very eloquently so too!
Hehehe
Excellent post, like Perdjie says!
What a week I’ve had… and to top it all, what a day I had today!
No chance even to bloody breathe properly, it was rush here, rush there, work fast, work hard, work long… fight here, install there… all at the speed of 3 men!!
Hopefully tomorrow morning I can watch some Dubai Sevens and put a lot of Rugby items on here…. for now, at 23:08 SA Time on a Friday night I can stop working and I am calling it a night… I am positively knackered!
In Dubai sevens the last two days:
In the women’s competition Russia beat New Zeeland for the first time ever.
In the men’s competition the USA beat NZ for the first time ever.
In the year 2009 the IOC admitted rugby sevens to the Olympic games. That was the begining of transformation of rugby world wide.
It will also be the beginning of SA rugby to become a second tier rugby nation.
@ Ben-die-Bul:
“I am all for a SA coach, but since we do not have any one currently better in SA and available,…”
Better than who?…Heyneke?
“Their philosophy iin life is, we must hate one, to love another ?”
And yet, from some people, we already see the “hate” towards AC, (even before he is appointed), just to show our deep rooted misguided “love” to Heyneke…
…pot/kettle…
“And what does mr. Hansen know telling the whole world that HM is a ‘good coach’,…”
Did not Sir Graham Henry call Peter de Villiers a “good coach” as well, at some stage? When the Boks beat his team 3/3? Why would Hansen say that HM is a good coach? Because he knows that his team can beat HM’s team 7/from 8. That’s why.
It’s not a compliment. It’s taking SA/Bok rugby for a ride! And you, and some others bite for that crap! Jeepersssss….
“The loss against the Argies were really no shame, they are a great team,…”
How many of the players that we lose against were first choice players? Don’t let their performance in the WC cloud your senses. Their 1st choice players were busy preparing for the RWC when their 2nd stringers beat the crap out of us in Durbs. And YOU say, “it’s no real shame,…”
Shame on you.
“All learn from mistakes, but HM must not learn from it, he must be punished by history.”
Yes, like the coach before him. At least he can claim that he was “robbed” by an incompetent referee in the 1/4 finals. The best your hero can do, is to claim that his team lost by “only” 2 points to the “best ever” rugby team.
Stupid neh!
@ BrumbiesBoy:
“Respect to Meyer for telling Hoskins & his ilk what they can do with their racist affirmative action “transformation” system.”
What did he say to them? Genuine question.
So Hoskins tells Heinekin about his master quota plan and old poepies promptly walks away from the job. Alistair, we look forward to you improving on Heinekin’s win record (or lack thereof) while meeting the Hoskins master plan. But then will Alistair really be rated a failure if he loses every second match but still transforms the team?
@ kwas:
Allister will be rated a failure if he does not win every single game the Boks play.
An aura has been created that the bok coach hasnt had the backing of the sa pubpic for a while whether it be politics or provincialism… People just need to decide if they want to part of the problem or the solution. Keep moaning about the players or coaches about their petty squables, decide to back the team selected or keep hating on specific players/coaches to curther increase the devide that has been created.
I reckon whoever the next coach is, is voing ti find it tough, so will the players, which will see more promising players leave the country as well.
36 @ Nama:
Hi Nama, I don’t know what he actually said but having just read the article again it’s pretty clear what the main topic of their “negotiations” were; Hoskins himself now says that his job is on the line as well if these targets/quotas or whatever they need to be called are not met.
Good luck to SARU if they think an international coach is going to fall for their bulls*it…
In Dubai the USA knocked SA out of the cup.
The sevens team is supposed to be the example of transformation. The USA is going to replace SA as one of the top sevens teams.
36: jou bitterbek opmerkings bevestig wat ek in my laaste paragraaf geskryf het by #30
I rest my case … again.
Hoskins:
“But after those talks, the decision (made by Meyer to resign) did not come as a surprise. We discussed a number of issues, one of them being our TRANSFORMATION imperatives. We had an open and frank discussion on that issue because, for me, it was an important issue.”
Soos reeds genoem, dit is nie hoofsaaklik rugby redes waarom AC aangestel gaan word nie. Wat glo die deurslag gegee het, is die volgende op ou AC se CV aan SARU…
My favourite movies: http://www.transformersmovie.com/
dWeePer wrote:
If the USA can manage to muster enough interest in 7’s rugby in their country they will nearly always beat SA .. same as they are doing already in Tennis, swimming, athletics, boxing, gymnastics, cycling, soccer, motor racing..etc..etc..etc..
It is a matter of numbers and resources……….
@ dWeePer:
The USA beat the AB 7’s team as well. Did you miss that or was that also because of “transformation”.
Also remember, the USA won the last 7’s tournament of the previous season in England. They just continued with their 7’s form in the Dubai tournament. They are becoming quite a force in 7’s actually, much like Kenia a year or 3/4 ago. Coincidently, the same guy who coached Kenia back then i now the coach of the USA.
So please, let us not blame “transformation” for the defeat against the USA.
@ Ben-die-Bul:
“The SA tragedy is deap seated, it is not about rugby, it is a sad way of life, some people unfortunately vent their hate via sports. Like our SA history, people like to hate and rejoice to see someone fail and fall.* VIVA ! …. but maybe that is a sad reflection of their own sorrowful lives, sadly ?”
Will this be you IF AC gets the job and “fails”? You’ll obviously have different criteria for him than you had HM. I mean, losing against Arg was not a big failure to you when it came to HM. How did you put it: “The loss against the Argies were really no shame,…”
Hilarious, I tell you. Freakin hilarious…if it was not so sad.
AC se velkleur kan miskien in sy guns tel op die stadium (daaroor hoef ons nie te stry nie), maar om te probeer voorgee dat dit die enigste rede vir sy (moontlike) aanstelling gaan wees, is wat my betref ‘n potvol strond. Die man het genoeg rugby credentials om sy (moontlike) aanstelling te regverdig.
Julle ouens soek maar net weer ‘n rede…
Ek’t netso vir die interresantheid ‘n bietjie gaan kyk na Bok rugby se vertoning sedert hul heel eerste toets in 1891. Tussen 1891 en 1994 (wat ek persoonlik gebruik as die skeiding tussen “wit” SA rugby en “getransformeerde” rugby) het die Bokke 195 wedstryde gespeel.
Hiervan het hulle 123 gewen, 54 verloor en 18 gelykop gespeel. Nou weet ek nie so mooi nie, maar dit lyk vir my asof die Bokke in die sogenaamde periode toe hulle wereldrugby “oorheers” het, ook maar net ‘n wenpersentasie van 63,1% handhaaf het. (http://www.genslin.us/bokke/)
As jy die 12 toetse tussen 1982-1989 (waarvan hulle 10 gewen en 2 verloor het) teen die Jaquars (‘n saangflanste Suid Amerikaanse span), ‘n Engelse B-span en ‘n tweederangse AB-span (gekamofleer as die Kavaliers) en ‘n Wereldspan (wat maar net gekom het vir ‘n betaalde vakansie) wegvat, dan lyk de prentjie nog swakker.
Dit gee dan vir jou 183 gespeel, 113 gewen, 52 verloor en 18 gelykop. ‘n Wenpersentasie van 61.7%.
Kom ons klap almal hande
En dit was nou LAAAAANK voor “transformasie” of afrigters wat aangestel is op grond van “TRANSFORMATION imperatives”.
So, in kort, die Bokke was nog maar al die jare ‘n 60% wenspan. Ek weet nie waar sommige mene nou kom aan die storie dat die Bokke gereeld 80% van hul wedstryde gewen het nie of dat as hulle dit nie in die toekoms doen nie, dan is it “transformasie” (lees swart spelers) se skuld.
@ Ben-die-Bul:
“But after those talks, the decision (made by Meyer to resign) did not come as a surprise.”
Ek probeer nog verstaan hoekom HM, 3 weke voor sy kontrak met SARU aan die einde van die maand verstryk, uit sy pos uit “resign”. Al wat hy moes doen was om sy werkgewer in te lig dat hy nie sy kontrak sal hernu nie.
Hoe de vok “bedank” jy 3 weke voor jou kontrak verstryk?
Tensy jy natuurlik alreeds ‘n nuwe kontrak geteken het en die mense jou dan agterna se dat hulle nie meer jou dienste gaan gebruik nie. Dan onderhandel jy ‘n bietjie oor ‘n goue handdruk en “bedank” kastig om albei partye die verleentheid te bespaar. Stap weg met ‘n paar $$$$$ in een dag, sonder stres nogal, instede van 20mil oor 5 jaar, met ‘n moerse klomp stres.
Slim neh.
@ Nama:
Jy moan dan heeltyd asof 67% die laagtepunt van bok rugby is.
41 @ dWeePer:
Hi dWeePer managed to catch a bit of radio commentary of the USA v NZ 3rd/4th place game yesterday, it sounded as if USA gave them a pakslae. Sounds like USA have some players with serious speed, know about Carlin Isles but there was another really quick player the commentators were raving about too. Looking at the tournament results it would seem they beat them twice:
USA 31/12 NZ and on day 1 USA 14/12
USA 21/19 SA.
It looks like the knockout match against SA was a lot closer than against the mighty NZ. Seems like they are on the up with their 7s in USA but wonder what the effect of the top 15 code players gelling in 7s for NZ and SA will eventually have on their Olympic prospects.
MacroPolo wrote:
Die laagtepunt in Bok rugby is die verlies teen Japan.
@ Angostura:
Dit was n groot laagtepunt, maar al het dit nie gebeur nie sou baie mense nogsteeds gemoan het net soos vier jaar terug met die eerste bok game onder meyer.
Soos ben vroeer gese het, daar is nou n lelike ding aan die rol gesit onder bok ondersteuners ten opsigte van die bok span. Sodra die bokke n slegte verloor het (wat in alle eerlikheid nog altyd deel van bok rugby was selfs meer as een keer n jaar, granted japan seker die slegste verloor) gaan die land vinnig teen die ou draai want dis hoe ons roll deesdae in suid afrika.
AC as hy die bok afrigter is het n lank pad vorentoe.
MacroPolo / Nama / Angostura
For me, stats and percentages mean zip.
I can manipulate any stats to say what I want them to say.
Sure, HM had some really k@k spells, and many of his selections were dubious to say the least, but in reality, he was probably as good / as poor as the majority of SA’s post isolation coaches.
Whether AC will be a better coach remains to be seen. We can all rest assured though that he will get a VERY rough ride from some sections of the Rugby “experts” in the general population.
For me though, the low point of SA Rugby, has got to be our collective inability to produce players of international calibre who are capable of summing up a game situation at any given time, and reacting accordingly.
It seems almost as if even our senior players become like rabbits in the headlights just before the excrement hits the fan.
Examples abound, but none are bigger than the Japan debacle, and the 2011 quarter final loss to Australia.
Senior players just couldn’t find a way to change the thinking and actions of those around them, and consequently the record books show that SA lost a quarter final where they dominated everything but the ref’s mind and the scoreboard, and a pool game that is now considered to be the greatest upset in International Rugby Union history.
Unfortunately, the lack of a “Plan B”, and inability to play the situation on the field is nothing new, and has blighted SA Rugby since re-admission IMO.
Sure we can point to the class of ’95 under Kitch Christie, and the long unbeaten run under Mallett, but generally, we’ve struggled when playing sides that don’t do what we think they’re going to do.
Our challenge is to change the mind-set of players and coaches from under 6 level, right through to international, and to stop coaching any individualism and thought patterns out of players that are seen not to conform.
I personally can’t see it happening in my lifetime, but we live in hope.
Have a great “off-season” guys. Please keep the debate going.
Only by debating the issues, can we hope to (eventually) see and understand other peoples point of view, and use everyone’s knowledge to improve Rugby Union at all levels.
I was a very happy man when HM was appointed 4 years ago. I thought we no had a man with a plan. A deep thinker, a student of rugby. A man who could take South Africa’s strengths and build on them with a few extra bits and pieces. And there were times when it looked as if it was happening. We saw signs of that against Aus and NZ this year. But the loss to Argentina scuppered all of that. Suddenly the wagons were drawn up into the laager and SA retreated into the skop and donner style that the Bulls favoured for so many years. AS Scrumdown says, the lack of a plan “B” or the ability to think beyond the game plan is so apparent.
Then add the fact that HM chose a “geriatric” player (in rugby terms), and several injured players who would be recovering during the pool stages, as well get getting back to form during those stages, was a recipe for disaster. Then his stubborn refusal to even look at some form players, and to choose players on reputation added more ingredients for disaster. Then his assertion that in spite of players being out of form, that they would come right, because pulling a Springbok jersey over your head changes you is a joke. Surely the same could be said of players from every other team at the World Cup?
I could have accepted a 2 point loss to NZ in the semi final, had the teams been nearly equal. However, SA was outplayed in every department, and looked silly. It was only the dogged determination of the players on defence that kept the scoreline so close. But that loss showed how far SA had regressed this year.
Lion4ever wrote:
Yes indeed… that is something that has been around for a long time… the so called “gees”… it is of course a lot of nonsense as there is no reason why the Boks should have more “gees” ( whatever that is) then any other team.
@ robzim:
I think during the currie cup the lions were a team with great “gees” and it showed in their results.
I agree that pulling on a bok jersey doesnt make everything right and brings back form, but its unfair to put down “gees” it is trully that something extra. The all blacks is a case and point example, the wallabies also had a bit more “gees” this year.
@ MacroPolo:
My view is that the Bokke do not have more ‘gees’ than other teams as many people seem to believe.
The Proteas showed quite some “gees” in holding out for 143 overs today but India also showed “gees” by stucking to their guns and eventually bowled them out to make it 3-0.
@ robzim:
I dont think its one of those things like whos god is more powerful or who god backs some more..
The proteas showed some spirit and gees these laat two days but it wont offset the lack of fight in the in the previous 3 games.
Team spirit or gees in any team sports is huge in my opinion.
We showed a lot of spirit vs the all blacks but unfortunately they were not given the tools to firstly be able to exit from their half. The all blacks team spirit is massive, there is and will always be an aura around them.
Gees is certainly an immeasurable thing which none of us will agree on.
But to me the lions were exceptional during the cc and really look like a team that believes and plays for eachother… No many kaniepasers in their team.
We make too much of the RWC – what really counts is the Tri Nations/TRC – that is the ultimate measure of rugby supremacy, & unfortunately for HM his track record in the ultimate test of rugby skill, flair, strength, acumen, spirit (gees), strategy, tactics, game plan, systems, conditioning, depth, motivation, leadership (call it whatever you like) was way beyond dismal … HM was a forgettable alsoran, a failure … and his performance chart was in a descent… one does not reward failure …
But to his credit, HM eventually did the honourable thing.
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