The second in a series of articles focussing on the Springboks post RWC 2011 deals with probably the thorniest of all posts to be filled.
THE COACH
Peter de Villiers
The Boks are currently coached by Peter de Villiers. The moustachioed one has had somewhat of an inconsistent time at the helm. His head has been called for more times than a fluffer on a porn set, but he has won a Tri-Nations title and a series against the British and Irish Lions, so it’s difficult to say that he’s not the man to continue coaching the Boks after RWC.
According to the statistics, he has a record of 25 wins out of 39 tests (64%) and that isn’t bad, but one has to consider which games were lost and why.
He does say a lot of stupid things, and some have said that the team is run by his assistant coaches and the senior players, but the figures don’t lie. Yes there are better coaches out there no doubt, but will they do a better job with the players at their disposal? That remains to be seen.
Potential successor 1 – Heyneke Meyer
Heyneke Meyer led the Bulls from being real SupeRugby no hopers under previous coach and, according to Google, boerbull enthusiast, Eugene van Wyk, to champions in a small matter of a few years; which may seem like a long time, but when you remember quite how useless they were in the late 90’s early 2000’s it kind of puts it in perspective. He was the favourite to take over from Jake White after the 2007 world cup but was politically garrotted at the 11th hour when P Divvy was given the job instead.
If structured no nonsense play is your ambit then Heyneke is your man. He’ll mould the team into an error-less juggernaut of pressure play and predictability, but you can be sure the team will do it well, and the predictability will work.
Potential successor 2 – Alistair Coetzee
Alistair Coetzee was Jake White’s assistant coach at the 2007 world cup, so he is clearly qualified, add to that his successful partnership with Rassie Erasmus at the Stormers / WP and you have a man who is capable of putting a good team together and getting it to perform, which is what a coach is there for after all.
Alistair brings more variety than Meyer, but I don’t think has the same commanding aura as the former Bulls coach. He’ll do a good job, but is he the best for the job?
Potential successor 3 – Dick Muir
Dick Muir is currently one of P Divvy’s assistant coaches. Rumour has it that he and forwards coach Gary Gold are the main decision makers currently, with P Divvy dealing with “man management”, and are sometimes at odds with each other over what style the Boks should play. Dick wants to unleash the creative fury, while Gary wants to unleash the conservative, not… fury… Great combination if you can find middle-ground, not so great if you can’t.
Dick was successful at the Sharks, and dismal at the Lions, and to be honest I can’t see why he would want to be Bok coach after all the flack he’s copped from “experts” in the media and fans.
Potential successor 4 – Rassie Erasmus
Rassie Erasmus has coached the Cheetahs to Currie Cup success, and as director of rugby at Western Province and the Stormers he has engineered a resurgence that has seen them in two major finals, which they lost. He is also a tactical genius. Who could ever forget him sitting on top of the grand stand in Bloemfontein with his flashing lights.
Rassie is mercurial, and as Bok coach could find the pressure and intense scrutiny too much to handle. He is perfectly suited to his current role as technical advisor and I hope to see him continue in that.
Potential successor 5 – John Mitchell
John Mitchell is the bombastic New Zealander currently trying to initiate something of a turnaround at the Lions. He’s abrasive, expects nothing less than the best, and is well known for voicing his displeasure when he doesn’t get it. That said he is an experienced coach with an okay track record.
If he coaches the Boks he will be the first foreigner to do so, I think. I also think it would be a monumental mistake and end after less than a year.
In closing, my personal favourite for the job is anyone other than Pieter de Villiers, but I suspect he will stay on after the world cup, especially if the Springboks win.
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My Dark horse option, which i forgot about, is Nick Mallet… He turned Italy into a competitive side and that deserves some serious props…
I’d poach Todd Blackadder from the Saders.
PDV !!! PDV !!! PDV !!!
😆 
I don’t think Pdiv will stay after the WC. Got this sneaky idea it will go to Allister Coetzee. Who imo will be the best man for the job out of all the names mentioned above.
I think the entire Stormers coaching staff is a good option.
New couch Allister Coetzee, I think he may pull in Rassie and Jones-with heyneke at the forewards…
Maybe keep PDV for another year or two and then what about John Smit who I am sure has the required Technical, Man Management, Motivational and Media skills necessary for the job? Sure he may not have the experience but with good support staff may be an option
@BoerSeun (Comment 6) :
Is that couch available at Wetherlys or Coricraft?? 😈 😆
Head Coach: Heyneke Meyer (cos we want Coetzee to stay as WP coach)
Forwards: Heyneke
Backs: Pieter Rossouw
Scrum coach: Os de Randt
🙄
@wpw (Comment 8) : try hard not to be a you-know-what, Wes… 🙂
This isn’t spellingworld….
I’d love to see a combination of Heyneke Meyer (head coach) and Rassie Erasmus (technical advisor)
@wpw (Comment 9) : de Randt Wes? Come now, that wasn’t smart given your previous comment.
Damn but we have some decent coaches lined up for the gig, I wonder who will be the outsider, theres always some dude from Border in the running as well.
@Clayton(PJLD) (Comment 12) : Dawie Theron perhaps? 🙂
@vanmartin (Comment 13) : I rate Dawie but he just took the U20 gig and I really hope he holds onto it for a while, our junior teams really suffered under Sauls.
Speaking of coaching – I would have preferred to see John retire instead of joining Saracens and become the Sharks’ forwards coach.
The current assistant coaches could become defense and backs coach each. We would then only need to appoint a pshrink to get our heads lekker.
@robdylan (Comment 10) : BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Hopefully the new couch doesn’t loose to many matches on Saterdays. 😉 😈
@robdylan (Comment 10) : 😕
@wpw (Comment 9) : Not sold on Os du Randt – he has not been able to teach Coenie Oosthuizen to scrum properly in two years 🙁
@McLovin (Comment 17) : 😈
@senior (Comment 19) : Like
@McLovin (Comment 17) :
😈
@senior (Comment 19) : Agree!!
In the unlikely event that Mitchell becomes coach, he would not be the first foreigner. Ian Mac takes that accolade.
Heyneke and Alistair must surely be the front runners should Divvi retire. I will be happy with either but feel that maybe it is time for Heyneke to get the nod as he has the accolades to prove that he can do the job. If it goes to anyone else it will be absalutely rediculous and probably another divvi disaster!!!
Loffie Eloff for the job
@Greg (Comment 26) : Hows his 3 year plan working out at Boland?
One thing we need to remember is that there will more than likely be political interference when and if a new coach is selected. So yes we all would like to see the best selected but the best needs to be the best politically correct as well as have the coaching knowledge and experience. Therefore I think PDV should stay on and his assistants should be of high quality.
@Clayton(PJLD) (Comment 27) : Quite well I believe, after he fired the only assistant who knew the movement calls, he is now apparently going to learn them himself! Not sure what he is planning for year three though.
@senior (Comment 19) : coenie is a KID, the Cheetahs had Wian du Preez who was coming along splendidly but he went overseas.
@SheldonK (Comment 28) : we don’t discuss politics here, Sheldon.
@SheldonK (Comment 28) : what robdylan means is that, we don’t even ALLUDE to anything political, this site exists in a vacuum! the “realities” of sa rugby do not exist on this site, we are a happy bunch! 😀 😉
@Greg (Comment 29) : Hahaha seriously? Wow! Maybe his plan is to rotate at scrumhalf with Bolla.
@SheldonK (Comment 28) : Ja and we beg Megatron to hang around here.
@Clayton(PJLD) (Comment 34) : all the time.
@Clayton(PJLD) (Comment 34) : @robdylan (Comment 35) : Have him on speed-dial
@robdylan (Comment 31) : Yeh i know politics and sport do not mix at all. But like it or not the more professional and the more money gets pumped into sport, the more politics there will be. Personally if love to see an Alistair Coetzee/Rassie Erasmus/Mathew Proudfoot combo…the 3 coach combo seems to work for the All Blacks…
@Clayton(PJLD) (Comment 34) : @SheldonK (Comment 37) : @robdylan (Comment 35) : hey sheldon, see how easy it was to get the “gatekeepers” biting? 😛 😆