I’m not convinced I’ll be back that much……I’m no longer drawn to pass comment on a worthless cause. Coetzee is arguably the worst coach we have had since readmission…..I reckon the first test we won against the Argies will be the only one we win this RC.
His selections are diabolical……..they do not come worse that the utterly pathetic Adriaanse now down to start as our tighthead…..the knocked kneed pretender with no shoulders in now our premier tighthead. He has banished Koch because of the penalties he conceded in general play, it had nothing to do with his scrummaging. Adriaanse at 3 is worse than Morne Steyn starting as our Bok 10, that is how utterly useless Adriaanse is.
All of a sudden de Jongh is our starting 12…….not only is he neither a 12, he is clearly not physical enough for a test centre, something that has been proven time and time again.
It does not end there. Goosen as great a player as he is, he is not a fullbacks backside, he is a 10 and 10 only. He should be on the bench as our bench 10. Habana has proved for the last season or two that he is past it……he looked pedestrian scoring that try against the Argies…..as a 30 plus, he is no longer quick enough. With the impressive Combrink out injured, why on earth has the past it Mvovo been recalled…..let me guess, because he knows the Bok system. Why not reward in form wings like Sergeal Petersen, Ulengo or Ismiel…….Ismiel would have been my call. Hougaard is not a wing.
Beast, is no longer close to being our best 1, why on earth is he still playing…..Kitshoff is twice the player. Strauss has been poor all year and probably our 4th best behind Bismark, Marx and Akers. Adriaanse is an insult. Louw has never been the answer at 6 and has been sorely shown up by one of the best opensides in the game in Jaco Kriel……its chalk and cheese. Kriel should have 50 caps behind his name by now. Oupa is a nice player but not nearly physical enough for a test blindside, we need a bruiser at 7. Whiteley like de Jongh is a nice little player but not physical enough for a test player.
So Coetzee is getting the following wrong in his starting 15…….Goosen, Habana, Hougaard, Beast, Strauss, Adriaanse, Louw, Oupa and Whiteley……that’s 9 of the 15 wrong. The bench has Mbonambi, Morne and Paige on it……hardly inspiring now is it?
The recall of Morne Steyn as our bench 10 about sums the utterly useless Coetzee up……talk about backward steps……..sadly it evidences Coetzee’s preference for conservatism and why he would much prefer to start Morne at 10 ahead of Jantjies, who is stifled under Coetzee as he was at the Stormers.
Coetzee is failing to direct the Boks, for he is only comfortable with percentage rugby……he wants a 10 kicking for position and his forwards bashing it up……but it’s clear that is never going to happen with Faf and Jantjies as your halfbacks. He is not comfortable with the free spirited Jantjies at 10 and it shows in the way Jantjies is playing as is the case with the side as a whole. With the Kiwi’s the transition from Super to test rugby is seamless…….they play to the same plan, with the same confidence that not much changes. This is not the case with the Boks. We all know the Lions model works and the obvious way forward for the Boks is to embrace the Lions model with the best 23 players available. If Ackerman and Swys could produce so much with so little imagine what they could do with unlimited access to our player resources. So the public outcry is for the Lions way but we have in Coetzee a coach who is not comfortable with that way. He is not astute enough to change, he is stuck with what he is comfortable with, but that sticking is without conviction and why the Boks look at sea……for the is no precise plan or pattern of play in place……..this coupled with his pathetic selections leaves us on the road to nowhere.
I just hope that post the JC, that Coetzee is man enough to step down and concede he way in over his head. Hell even de Villiers was a better coach than this clown.
