Cape Town – Allister Coetzee knows Eddie Jones well, and would’ve expected his former Springbok coaching colleague’s “bullies” comment recently, months ahead of Saturday’s showdown against England at Twickenham.
But while Jones enjoys riling up the opposition, Coetzee found out that he would need to contend with the British media as well in gearing up for the biggest Test of the November tour of Europe.
In what has been a relatively low-key build-up in London ahead of Saturday’s 31-31 draw against the Barbarians at Wembley Stadium, Coetzee and his team have slipped in under the radar as they are staying in south-west London, not too far from Twickenham.
But at Thursday’s team announcement for the Baabaas match, the first shot was fired by a British journalist ahead of the England game. Coetzee was first told that while Jones faced tremendous scrutiny, it was nothing like the “horrendous” situation a Springbok coach had to contend with – 300 South African players who are overseas, and then having to “reflect the demographics” of the country as well in selection.
The policy of transformation, to redress the imbalances of the sporting past, is often brought up by foreign media in an attempt to unsettle visiting South African coaches or players.
To his credit, though, the 53-year-old Coetzee – a former captain and scrum-half of the non-racial Saru team in the late 1980s and early 1990s – didn’t fall for the bait.
“The one thing that is for sure is that our country has its own challenges, and if you’re South African, you would understand those challenges. And we see it more like a great opportunity than a problem – like you would perhaps see it over here. This is who we are, that’s our DNA, and it is a nation that has always in tough times, stood together and came out on top,” Coetzee said.
There’s no doubt that a lot more can be done to provide proper opportunities for players of colour at Springbok and Super Rugby level.
From Coetzee’s side, he needs to prevent situations where someone like Bongi Mbonambi gets just a few minutes at the end of a Test, or Oupa Mohoje comes off early in the second half.
There is a long road ahead to ensure that genuine transformation takes place at the highest level, with the target being 50 percent black representation at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
Coetzee picked nine players of colour in the match-23 for the non-Test Barbarians game, and has chosen 11 out of 33 for the three clashes against England, Italy and Wales.
That is only 33 percent, and it is a number that needs to increase significantly next year, although mitigating factors are the injuries to Siya Kolisi, Sikhumbuzo Notshe and Seabelo Senatla.
But the coach also addressed the issue of SA players overseas, and feels that they will find a way around it. “Our rugby indaba is the start of that – realising that this is reality, that we have actually stagnated over the last 21 years, since 1995. The things that we can fix, we all agreed that what we can control, we will definitely fix immediately,” Coetzee said.
“There will be more long-term benefits than in the short-term, but hopefully there will be patience to see that we can change what we can control now. It’s definitely unique to our country, but like I said, we see it as an opportunity more than a burden or something hanging around your neck.
“A lot of journalists wrote that the indaba was called because of our situation (having lost four out of nine in 2016) – it’s never been called because of that. It’s just a fact and realisation that every Springbok coach starts at nought, and he’s hoping to get it right in a four-year cycle.
“Our system is completely different to New Zealand and Australia, and we’ve got the most players abroad. So we had a hard look at things and we have buy-in to establish uniformities with certain aspects.
“We have capped seven new players this year, and there could be four more on this tour. That’s the process of getting experience. In England, you are moaning about the locks (being injured), but (replacement Joe) Launchbury is an experienced player.”
But the UK media weren’t going to allow Coetzee to get off so easily on the transformation issue. A journalist asked what Mzwandile Stick “brings to this group” as he has “limited experience”, despite the former Blitzbok sevens captain being the official Springbok backline coach.
Again, Coetzee fended off the jab. “There’s no question that Stick has done very well at Under-19 level – he’s won the Currie Cup with very little resources with the EP Kings. He was the head coach there and has also been coaching in the Currie Cup and Super Rugby levels with the Kings,” he said about the 32-year-old Stick.
“He is a young coach… everyone has to start somewhere. Maybe you would say this is not the entry level, but surrounded with the right people, I’m sure Mzwandile will become a top coach – without a doubt.
“He is confident, he understands the game. He’s played on the international sevens circuit, and if you look at any other young coaches, they also get that break. And that is the break I think he deserves. He might not be the most experienced coach at the moment, but surely he will become a good coach.
“I was appointed in March this year, which was really quite a challenge for me, very late. For any coach, it will be tough to get things going two months before your first series. But where we are now, we have improved a hell of a lot as a management team.
“(Jacques) Nienaber left after Ireland, it was also a setback. We had to plug holes because no one was available, and after Super Rugby, coaches were busy with Currie Cup. Now you can have a look at, after the indaba, speak to the coaches and get buy-in, which is why we have Franco (Smith) and JP Ferreira in.”
If ever the Boks needed motivation to extend their 10-year and 12-match unbeaten run (11 wins and a draw) against the English, they certainly got it in abundance from Jones and the UK press.
But they will have to show vast improvement from their patchy showings in the Rugby Championship, and prove that they have recovered mentally from the 57-15 drubbing at the hands of the All Blacks.
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