Louis Koen to help Boks with tactical kicking

Louis Koen Photo: Luigi Bennett

Louis Koen Photo: Luigi Bennett

Published Sep 26, 2016

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The Springboks’ tactical kicking will receive some attention ahead of their Rugby Championship clash against Australia in Pretoria after Louis Koen was roped in to help this week.

The SA Rugby Union (SARU) mobi-unit kicking guru sharing his expertise with the kickers in the squad at their base in Johannesburg this week.

National coach Allister Coetzee said they had identified the lack of good tactical kicking as one of the areas that needed attention as they look to play a smarter territorial game.

“Louis has always been part of the South African Rugby Union Mobi Unit, and he has always been part of us unfortunately in Nelspruit he couldn't be with us as he was running the Under-18 and Under-16 tournaments,” Coetzee said in Johannesburg on Monday.

“It is good to have Louis back, the players really do benefit from his experience.”

Coetzee admitted the team’s tactical kicking left a lot to be desired which was highlighted in their two Tests down under.

The Boks are under mounting pressure to get back to winning ways after losing four of their sevens matches this season.

The team is fresh off three consecutive defeats including a crushing defeat to the All Blacks a week ago, and a narrow 23-17 defeat to Australia the week before.

In the match against the Wallabies the South Africans kickers launched an aerial attack on Austrlia fullback Israel Folau, who was as safe as houses under the high ball.

“The kicking execution hasn't always been good to be honest, when I started my meeting yesterday (Sunday) I showed the players that is one area we are not dominating,” Coetzee said.

“The ineffective kicking puts our defence under massive pressure, you guys can recall the last time we played against Australia what happened in that game due to poor kick execution and Israel Folau has also been really good in the air.

“That obviously leads to line breaks which puts our defence under pressure.”

Independent Media

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