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Heyneke Meyer will be unveiled as the new Bok boss on Friday, a top-level source within the South African Rugby Union has told the Cape Times.
After Gert Smal said no to the Springbok coaching job at the weekend due to family commitments, Heyneke Meyer will now be unveiled as the new Bok boss on Friday, a top-level source within the South African Rugby Union has told the Cape Times.
Saru chief executive Jurie Roux met with Meyer in Pretoria on Saturday, where the Bulls director of rugby agreed to take over from Peter de Villiers. He is expected to sign a two-year contract later this week.
Current Ireland forwards coach Smal was Saru’s “first choice”, according to the source, and his decision to turn down the Bok job has left the national body “very disappointed”.
The main obstacle for the organisation in trying to secure his signature was the fact that his two children, a son and daughter, are settled in school in Dublin, Ireland. The Cape Times understands that Smal didn’t want to disrupt their schooling by uprooting them and bringing them back to South Africa.
Another problem was that Smal signed an 18-month extension to his Irish contract last year, which will only expire in June 2013.
Meyer, of course, has an outstanding record as coach of the Blue Bulls in the Currie Cup and the Bulls in Super Rugby, having won four Currie Cups (one shared) and a Super 14 title. He was also the favourite to take over from Jake White in 2008, but was pipped by De Villiers in a Saru president’s council vote.
Such dramas are not expected this time around, when the now-general council of Saru meets on Friday to ratify the recommendation of the executive committee, which will meet on Thursday to endorse Meyer as its candidate. Meyer is expected to be released from his Bulls director post.
Saru has tried to convince Smal to replace De Villiers for several weeks now, once it had changed its initial stance that Stormers coach Allister Coetzee was the best man for the job.
Smal’s success in winning two Currie Cups with WP in 2000 and 2001, guiding the Stormers to a Super 12 semi-final in 2004, his exemplary transformation record with the Cape Union and then his experience as the Bok and Ireland forwards coach since 2004 made him Saru’s preferred candidate.
A lack of trophies in the Newlands cabinet under Coetzee’s watch in the last two years was the main reason for the change in thinking among the Saru hierarchy, despite the Stormers and Western Province reaching Super Rugby and Currie Cup finals in 2010 and semi-finals in 2011.
The make-up of Meyer’s Springbok management team will hopefully be finalised this week, with Saru hoping to include Rassie Erasmus as a technical adviser, Paul Treu as an assistant coach and Jacques Nienaber as defence coach.
But those possible appointments will still be discussed with current Bulls director of rugby Meyer, as he may want to bring in his own support staff.
The Boks play their first Test of 2012 against England on June 9 in Durban. - Cape Times
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Dekka, wrote
I sincerely hope that the best possible qualified man is selected as the new South African coac. I hope that race or cultural background do not become factors in the selection process. I am a Wallaby supporter, but I feel that a halves combination of Hougaard and Jantjies, will transform the Springbok team and their attacking options and make them very competitive in 2012.
Mike.C, wrote
Do we need a backline and backline coach if if Meyer is selected?Sorry, Meyer will put the springboks back by ten years
capeTown-Bull, wrote
its weird, most of you have been rambling on about how one dimensional the bulls play but the fact is the bulls has been the only sa team to wear the super rugby crown (3 times).Its not about provinces or francises, its about success rate and we all know who's better
Greg Shark, wrote
some hilarious comments here or are they just plain stupid? some comments insightful such as Post Match did not go unnoticed. some comments....well....eish....the best coach would probably be a hybrid of a dozen possible coaches plus a pinch of stupid commentators. Anonymous 1:36pm....where on earth did you spring from....get back in your hole, dammit!!
Anonymous, wrote
Great coach. He is surely the best person for the job. His record at the Bulls speaks for itself. He took a losing team, put the right structures in place to create a winning culture. The same thing John Mitchel is doing for the Lions at the moment. And i'm not bulls supporter by any means - infact i like the idea of them loosing 'n great coach like him to the boks.
Anonymous, wrote
i will never support this afrikaner from the north.i will support the boks again one day when this person is removed as bok coach
Post Match, wrote
I can't fault Meyer, fact is he should have taken over from White in 20078 already. Yet, he would have to get out of the starting blocks pretty quick, not so? His contract is only valid for 2 years, while SARU made it quite clear that Small was in fact their favourite. Small has extended his contract with Ireland to 2013, which coincides with Meyer's renewal date... It is pretty obvious then that should Meyer not get reults by 2013, he could be replaced by Small... Considering the fact that the Boks lost a lot of players with a lot of experience, Meyer would have to start building a new team and he has to start showing results within 2 years. It really is a tough job being a Springbok coach...
Anonymous, wrote
Meyer is best equipped to take us into the future & perhaps another WC. He is organised, he has an excellent rugby brain, he is knowledgeable and he commands respect from the players without imposing himself on those around him. A major blow for the Bulls but a big win for SA. BTW I am a WP supporter.
Brett, wrote
@Deebee, and bring Peter Grant back from Japan (Morne can take his place there). But then again, if Heyneke is the coach, we dont need a backline, we will only play with 10 players
Anonymous, wrote
@jakkie Good old blind blue bull supporter. I was stating a fact of what happened as a coach in a final and not his blue bull godhood. Rassie Erasmus and his cheetahs made him and his overrated bulls looked like the mediocre coach he is. This was in 2005 and since he left the Bulls and Ludeke took over, are you saying the Bulls were not better? Confusing to begin with, but if you are blind by loyalty, you will not see facts. In my books he is no different than mediocre De Villiers that took the unbeaten boks to the semi's and lost the plot. One diff is that Div had a support Coach with a history of not winning anything and it shows
Deebee, wrote
Please can a rich Bok fan pay for Morne Steyn to move to Japan? It's the only way we'll ever score a backline try again....
MightyKaks, wrote
Half Jake and Peter's teams were made up of talent that Meyer found when he took over a rubbish Bulls team. Funny how the Boks and the Bulls doing well normally coincides
Margaret, wrote
I think Heinecke Meyer has been waiting in the wings for a long time. Perhaps this will have prepared him well. I don't think we can judge him before he even takes his first step.
Vision, wrote
What a pity, the oks will play losing, backward rugby like the Bulls and Derek Hougard will be the Bok number 10!!!! All the good work done by Jake and Peter in developing good players will be lost because you’ll have to play for the Bulls before you can Play for the Boks... Sad!!!
Jakkie, wrote
Anonymous 08:33: Shocking really what you know, Meyer is often directly attributed for taking a failing Bulls side and turning not just the team but the whole franchise into one of the best of the world...
Anonymous, wrote
@anon 7:57am, wrote
The S15 competition breaks up after week 15 for the June internationals and resumes a month later. Not sure that I'm a fan of the new format at all!
Anonymous, wrote
Same coach that took an unbeaten Bulls to a final and then lost it to the underdogs the Cheetahs? Coached by Rassie Erasmus. So compare apples with apples, who was the better coach? And how good is he is Ludeke did an even better job with the Bulls. I fail to see certain SA supporters fanatism with this dude. He was so overconfident last time that he will be Bok Coach that he resigned and then was in the desert for a very long time like Jake White. Rugby has moved on
Anonymous, wrote
Somph, wrote
@Anonymous 07.43 - I'd guess Treu is there to beef up back-line skills which have been lacking a bit lately...?
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