Vata Ngobeni believes Allister Coetzee is the right man to take charge of the Boks. Here he explains why the former Stormers boss can succeed.
For far too long the South African Rugby Union have wasted time on appointing Heyneke Meyer’s successor as Springbok coach, even though the perfect candidate for the job was right under their noses.
There can be no doubt that the only candidate capable of becoming the next Bok coach is Allister Coetzee, and his appointment should be confirmed today. There is no other South African coach currently active that can claim to be more experienced than the former Stormers boss and he has the ability to lead the national team for the next four years and beyond.
Coetzee comes with a wealth of experience, first from his days as assistant Springbok coach to Jake White and then the many years as head coach of the Stormers and Western Province.
His credentials cannot be questioned. He was one of the architects of the Springboks' Tri-Nations triumph in 2004 and their World Cup victory in 2007.
As a head coach, Coetzee brought back domestic glory to the WP after a decade of them not seeing the Currie Cup and led the Stormers to a Super Rugby final in 2010.
Moreover, many stars have come from his mentorship, especially during his time at Eastern Province, as well as his latter years at the Stormers, where he not only contributed in the growth of many Springbok stars, but helped build formidable teams.
And with race being another contentious issue in South African rugby, the 52-year-old Coetzee's appointment will go a long way in helping transform the face of the game, while also being entrusted with the thorny issue of making sure that the Springbok team reflects the demographics of the country.
Coetzee is no stranger when it comes to selecting teams based on merit. Even so, he is the sole ray of hope that the Springboks can have a representative team based on his selections at the Stormers, where at times more than half the team were Black and Coloured players.
Experience
Coetzee has served as Springbok assistant coach to Harry Viljoen in 2000 and later to Jake White from 2004 until 2007.
He has been the head coach at Japanese club Kobe Steelers Kolbeco from 2015. Previously he was at the Stormers (from 2010-2015), WP (2008-2014), Eastern Province (2001-2003) and has served as assistant coach at EP, the Sharks and the Cats.
Achievements
2004 Tri-Nations champions; 2007 Rugby World Cup champions; 2010 Super 14 finalist; 2012 Currie Cup champions; and 2014 Currie Cup champions
Transformation
Coetzee will become only the second black coach to be appointed as Springbok coach after Pieter De Villiers made history in 2008 when succeeding Jake White.
Not only will Coetzee be a welcome face to a sport that has had problems with resisting transformation, the former Stormers coach has also championed changing the perception that black and coloured players are being selected based on a quota system by having selected a number of black players in his teams consistently on merit.
The likes of Siya Kolisi, Juan de Jongh, Cheslin Kolbe, Scarra Ntubeni, Nizaam Carr, Skhumbuzo Notshe, Kurt Coleman and Seabelo Senatla got their break into Super Rugby when Coetzee was at the helm of the Stormers and most of them have gone on to rugby stardom. - The Star