The search for a new captain and the identification of a specific playing style will start in earnest on Sunday when a 41-man group gathers for the first of three Springbok training camps ahead of the Test season.
And heading up the Boks as they look to correct the wrongs of a dreadful 2016 season will be Allister Coetzee, who it was confirmed yesterday has kept his job despite coaching the team to just four wins last year.
Coetzee though will have two new men to lean on in the coming year – the Cheetahs’ Currie Cup-winning boss Franco Smith and a yet to be named defence coach. Smith, who also played for the Boks, will handle the attack and backline coaching, while the defensive work is set to be done by Brendan Venter, who is currently in charge of coaching defence to the Italian national team, and is set to become a Bok management member.
Losing his position in the Bok set-up is Mzwandile Stick, who will now take up a position with the SA Under-20 side, with Chean Roux as the new head coach.
The changes to the coaching teams came about following a review process undertaken by the South African Rugby Union at the end of last year. According to the findings, it was felt the play by the Bok back division needed attention and so, too, the team’s defence.
Smith, who led the Cheetahs to Currie Cup glory in just his second year in charge in Bloemfontein, will continue in his role as Super Rugby coach through to 2019.
“Last year was an incredibly tough one for the Springboks and all of the rugby community suffered,” said Saru president Mark Alexander.
“We weighed many factors in the review process but we believe that these changes will strengthen the Springbok management hand.
“The new alignment at both a coaching and conditioning level with the franchises will also provide critical support to the national team.”
The training camp, from Sunday to Tuesday, includes 41 players, but no Sharks or Kings players were considered as they will be overseas. Also, the Lions’ players will leave the camp on Sunday as they head to Argentina for a match with the Jaguares.
Included are a number of players who were injured last season, among them Handre Pollard, Siya Kolisi and Jaco Kriel, while rising stars like Ox Nche, Jospeh Dweba, Wilco Louw, Warrick Gelant, Hanro Liebenberg and Akker van der Merwe get a look-in.
Long-term injured players like Juan de Jongh, Howard Mnisi and Roelof Smit were not considered, and neither was Ruan Combrinck – who missed November’s Bok tour with a shoulder injury – but is due back in action in a month’s time, nor any overseas-based players.
One of Coetzee’s first tasks will be to identify who’ll lead the Boks this year following the international retirement of Adriaan Strauss. Those in the running include Warren Whiteley, Kolisi, Pollard and Sharks players Beast Mtawarira and Pat Lambie. Toulon-based Duane Vermeulen is also an option should Coetzee be allowed to include overseas-based players in his mix.
Two more Bok training camps will be held before the Boks are next in action, against France, in a three-Test series in June.