Allister Coetzee fails our Bok performance review

Embattled Springbok coach Allister Coetzee is expected to submit his report on the national team’s performances on the year-end tour to Europe early this week.

The general feeling is that the 54-year-old is set for the boot due to his poor results over the past two years.

But Coetzee remains defiant and insists he’ll be at the helm until the 2019 World Cup, after which his contract ends.

We’ve formulated our own, simple performance review of him … and he fails badly.

RESULTS (Mark: F)

Yes, being Springbok coach is hardly an easy job and comes with unique pressure and sideshows.

However, Coetzee’s win percentage of 44% – 11 wins out of 25 Tests – simply isn’t good enough.

Depth concerns arising from the exodus of players to foreign markets as well as structural issues at home means that a Bok coach’s results nowadays need to be viewed from a realistic perspective but South Africa are still good enough for a 65% win rate.

TRANSFORMATION (Mark: E)

There was naturally much optimism from some quarters that a non-white coach would automatically promote transformation more actively.

In a historical context, Coetzee’s average of 39% black representation probably isn’t all that bad given some of his predecessors’ records.

But this is the world of Saru’s new strategic transformation plan and that requires him to have 50% black representation by the 2019 World Cup.

With only two years left, that 12% gap seems a tall order to fill before then.

Also, Coetzee arguably picked the wrong non-white players in 2017 for his team.

He persevered far too long with underperforming players such as Courtnall Skosan and Raymond Rhule, while taking far too long to include someone like Lukhanyo Am, Warrick Gelant and Makazole Mapimpi (whom he didn’t even pick).

MAN MANAGEMENT (Mark: D)

Funnily enough, Coetzee hasn’t been all that bad in this regard.

Particularly early in the campaign, he genuinely instilled a nice team culture together with regular captain Warren Whiteley.

But that gradually eroded.

Coetzee has been fiercely loyal to certain of his players and in some cases like Jesse Kriel and Lood de Jager, his faith managed to make them perform better than they did at franchise level.

Yet loyalty didn’t translate into good results.

GAME-PLAN AND SELECTION POLICY (Mark: E)

There was a balanced approach when France were blanked 3-0 in June’s Test series, one where robust forward play was complemented by the backs taking some of the chances that were created as a result.

A stirring performance against the All Blacks at Cape Town was also encouraging.

But most of the time, the Springboks lacked a playing identity.

The less said about some selections, the better: the obsession with not picking specialised No 8s and dropping Rudy Paige for Wales when it seemed he had actually done enough for a start.

PUBLIC AND MEDIA IMAGE (Mark: F)

The majority of the rugby public wants Coetzee out.

In terms of his media image, he’s an eminently pleasant man who likes to talk about the game.

But that’s where the problem comes in.

Coetzee perhaps talks too much and sugarcoats far too much – like saying there were “positives” from the 57-0 defeat to the All Blacks in Albany.

In essence, Coetzee talks as if he’s viewing a different world to the rest.

There’s little introspection and not enough hard talk.

It creates the perception of a desperate man unable to accept accountability fully.

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