Bok Coach problem - It is idiocy what SARU is doing

The following from News 24:-

The Springbok cause for 2016 is probably being harmed even at this fledgling stage of the season, with Super Rugby only days away, by the ongoing absence of a national coach.

Say what you like about Heyneke Meyer, but the last head coach of the Boks worked very hard to get the domestic Super Rugby coaches on his side, in the greater national interest.

A diligent – sometimes almost to the point of obsession – planner and preparer, Meyer appreciated their own pressures to put self-interest first and ensure best possible results for their teams, so the matter of prize-player “rotation” and general fitness management during the arduous Super Rugby season was always a delicate one.

But he kept a strong, consistent line of communication open to those franchise coaches, perhaps more tangibly so than by any predecessor in the Bok tracksuit. Meyer paid visits to franchises early in Super Rugby seasons, and by the later stages of his four-year tenure, at the very least, was getting weekly feedback on all players from the various squads’ medical teams around the country.

He was always at pains to stress, in dealings with the media, that he enjoyed “very good working relationships” with the franchises.   Meyer also arranged occasional weekend camps for established and aspirant Boks during Super Rugby; the first of those last season came in Johannesburg in early May after lists of attendees were revealed during April ... yet weekend reports suggest a new Bok coach may only take charge this April.

So, as all of South Africa’s now record tally of six Super Rugby teams set off from the blocks this weekend, there isn’t even a Bok coach in place to begin the far from trivial liaison with his respective franchise counterparts.

You could say that the roughly 82-day inertia by problem-plagued SARU since Meyer stepped on his own sword in early December is starting to hit home, doing the top-tier green-and-gold cause no favours.  Keep in mind also that for a large part of his tenure, Meyer was able to develop his rapport with some domestic coaches particularly well, because they were stalwarts in their own portfolios.

This year, however, several South African Super Rugby coaches will be as raw in their franchise posts as the Bok coach – unless he turns out to be some gnarly veteran of world rugby, and don’t get your hopes too high -- will be in his, and liaison should already be taking root with even greater urgency as a result.    All of Robbie Fleck (Stormers), Nollis Marais (Bulls), Franco Smith (Cheetahs) and Deon Davids (Kings) will be embarking on maiden full campaigns in charge, the domestic Super Rugby landscape having shed itself of a collective 22 years or so of head-coach experience with the stepping aside of such characters as Frans Ludeke, Allister Coetzee and Naka Drotske.

Super Rugby is a vital feeder to the Test arena. The quicker SA coaches can have a Bok mastermind to begin chatting to, the better.   One saving grace, perhaps, is that if, as rumoured, SARU’s general manager of rugby Rassie Erasmus takes temporary charge – at least for the home series against Ireland in June – the former Test loose forward is at least “on board” already and may be doing some behind-the-scenes work, including in relation to the Super Rugby synergy.

But we may sit in suspense for the actual appointment for several weeks yet, as SARU fries certain other fish at the pinnacle of its fractious, unstable hierarchy.

Not for the first time, it’s rugby itself that probably suffers most."

This is the result of having a professional sport managed by crazy amateurs and the rugby-illiterate.  

However, there is a problem with Meyer as well,   His brand of rugby was completely out-dated and he virtually forced the franchises to concentrate on the outdated brand of rugby.    He was also not serious in identifying promising players - he preferred his old guard - and the saying "I know what he is capable of" forgetting that the capability was years ago and the players he loved was not capable of the level of performance they used to produce.   This approach caused Meyer "to fall on his own sword" as stated in the article.   He just became completely out of date.

However, that does not take away from the fact that he did have at least the ability to liaise with the previous Super Rugby coaches - and that liaison (even if it was non-productive) is now totally absent.  

When will SARU realize that professional sport is a professional activity that needs professional management?  I suppose never - the clowns is too busy with their own craziness.

  

 Election time

 Admit 1The ANC is playing the race drum full time. 

I wonder if the shenanigans at SARU presently is affecting the appointing if the new coach. Hopefully the rotten apple will soon be tossed from the basket. A guy who can embezzle funds is also capable of appointing a coach for the wrong reasons. I'm just glad Meyer, Pienaar and Steyn are behind us for good now. We might actually enjoy watching Boks play again. Imagine that.

 Which one of the Steyns were you referring to?  Is it Fat Fransie or Donkey-Kick Morne?
 

I'm not sure what people expected to happen with Meyer gone. A lack of an heir apparent was always one of the strongest reasons to keep him. This vacuum at the top was a foreseeable outcome. A situation that was well managed would never have pressured him or allowed him to step down. 
Coetzee - this was always the most likely appointee as a person of colour, assistant on the national level and head coach of the most successful SA Super 15 franchise, but if you thought Meyer was conservative, then AC was even more so.
Ackermann - our best domestic option, but inexperienced and with the way things are going politically in SARU also the wrong colour.
Erasmus - an administrator / technical advisor, but not a head coach. Would wilt under the pressure and it doesn't seem like its something he even wants to do.
Be careful what you wish for.

 HM peaked early. Probably because the old guard peaked at the end of 2013. After that many injuries and some form losses weakened the team. And the crop of youngsters were not able to replace their predecessors on a like for like basis.

Clearly the Boks were not ready for the Bargies in RSA, and again not ready for the Japanese at the WC. Two anomalies because HM's teams were always well prepared. And he recovered from those errors with two emphatic wins over the Bargies and a strong WC semi. Playing NZ to within two points with a team the critics on this Board thought poorly of and which nobody was entirely comfortable with,  tells you that that  team  was well prepared.
This is going to be a tough year for Bok rugby, much as  2008 was. In 2008 we were forced to try all the stupid ideas Jake rejected....and of course it all imploded and we went back to our traditions in 2009. I think 2016 will be much the same, a year of silly experimentation and mediocrity.

 Mozart
I have to disagree with you.  Matfield was not involved in 2013 and the rest of the Old Guard never peaked in that year - they peaked in 2009.   The problem was also that most of the youngsters you blamed for problems rarely played in 2014 and of them a lot had 6 or less tests when they were included in the WC squad.  Kriel and De Allende had 3 tests as a center pairing.
The players that really imploded in the Argentina and Japan tests were the old guard.  The other problem was that Meyer used a sterile game plan - easy to counter.   
What 2008 conclusively proved that the old guard was incapable to plat anything different from what they got used to.   Get the ball to the flyhalf and donkey-kick it.   When they were instructed to play a more enterprising game and they could not adjust and failed miserably.  By 2009 the old guard took over and De Villiers became their assistant and their cover.
By 2012 we fell badly behind the other SH sides and Meyer's style of rugby resulted in 2014 and  2015 in a further deterioration of performances.          

 Seen from the left, seen from the right....my call is a 2008 redux.

 See the items on SARU management and the appointment of a coach.   Without some order in the management - there will be a redux.  It has nothing to do with the players this time around - in 2008 it had to do with the inability of players to adjust and an idiotic coach, who allowed the senior players to run the team .  

 Oumaaik, do you really think that PDivvy had the ability to manage the national team ?

 blobbok
No he did not - that is why the team was run by the senior players, while he was talking crap all the time.   That is also why the team went into rapid decline  in 2010 and 2011.   It was crap rugby and getting worse with the decline in performances by the players and their cronies, who made sure they were selected despite serious performance deficiencies.
Als o read the other article from Rugby365 - about the goings on in SARU at present.  Utter chaos.   
  

Obviously not Blob...which is why the players took over! People can say what they want about Meyer, but PDV was a much worse coach!  

 It's absurd that no one's been appointed as Bok coach.
I see the article certainly favours Meyer. 
Not sure why!! 
He may have established good relations with the various SA franchises but it helped nothing in the end. He's a failure ... no matter the effort he put in ... it all came to nought ... the loss to Japan will haunt him till his dying day. 
That is his legacy. 
SARU are focused on getting the colour mix "right" ... more so than appointing a competent coach.
They have their priorities all screwed up. And we thought that it couldn't get any worse.
Their stupidity is never ending. 






 

Clean...here is the simple truth...nobody wants to be coach! That is why one has not been appointed! Nobody is prepared to throw their name away with a tenure that is sure to fail! No matter how good a coach is, when they are going to be forced to include inferior players because of the colour of their skin, and with the team dissatisfaction that will accompany such a short sighted philosophy, the team is bound to disappoint! Any coach with half a brain will know that history will not view such a failure as a political correction, but instead as a coaching failure. In other words, becoming the next Bok coach will be coaching career s uicide!   

"This is going to be a tough year for Bok rugby, much as  2008 was. In 2008 we were forced to try all the stupid ideas Jake rejected....and of course it all imploded and we went back to our traditions in 2009. I think 2016 will be much the same, a year of silly experimentation and mediocrity."

If we don't try to change the way we play we will be left behind. We are already behind. Remember the Wales game...when we had so very much possession(80% in fact) and yet the ball did not once in 80 minutes manage to travel from 9 to the wing. An utter disgrace to the spirit of the game if you ask me. So, if not for some "silly experimentation", what other way forward do we have? Are you suggesting that we continue to play traditional Bok rugby in the vein that Meyer reverted back to? The kind of rugby that makes it completely useless to even have back line players.

Honestly, the game plan we used in the WC would have worked way better if instead of a back line we just had a bunch of loose forwards. Really, i can't see why Habana, JP and company were even on the field. All we needed was a decent 9 and a pollard at full back.

I'll hate Meyer until long after he has forgotten how he embarrassed us against Japan, and how he made the world lose respect for the Green & Gold.

How many international coaches have to negotiate the bullsh!te that confronts any Bok coach ? No wonder foreign coaches aren't interested in the job .

 As an outsider looking in, Meyer has done a great job although is by no means perfect. However, where he has excelled, it has really had a big positive impact and where he has failed a bit is probably secondary. What it also leaves is a platform for further opportunity and improvement, for whomever ends up taking over.
He has largely professionalised the national team. The fitness of the individuals and the structures (coaching & playing systems) have made a huge difference. There could be a criticism that he's overreliant on these systems and it impairs the natural flair, but the results have definitely been better. What is clear to me is that there needs to be a much wider squad participation, perhaps 35-40 players who are drilled in the system and whose fitness levels are improved to the same level as the first 23 or so. Whether the coaching staff have the resource to be able to do this, I don't know.
There are some parallels with what SCW did for England, but Meyer's take on it is more current, less jingoistic and less reliant on a handful of top stars. Meyer is a bit of a plum as well, although a very different plum from SCW. Interesting.
So, plenty more to do, but a great platform has been developed.

Admit 1, I think the one big mistake Meyer made that you are overlooking is the fact that he stuck with players for too long instead of bringing in younger blood when there was still time. Instead he landed up at the world cup with some players that were past their best and others that did not have enough experience. I do like your squad participation idea having 35-40 players at the same level as the top 23. Meyer's over reliance on a hand full of stars was one of his biggest mistakes. 

 Admit One
Meyer made on serious mistake - as was mentioned in passing by bluebok.   He first pick players whom in his own words "knew what they are capable of"   It is fine to have such an idea - but then the players should show that they are still capable of the required level of performance.  The end result was he picked too many players based on reputation without regard to performance.
That approach resulted in a squad of under-performing players and of players with extremely limited exposure on international level.  
He then decided on an extremely limited game plan - because the older and more experienced players could not adjust to a different plan - which was extrmely predictable and countered by opponents with ease.  
In the end the above issues cost him dearly.  

 Nothing new here. Same old, old nonsense.I suspect there are too many sub municipal workers running things.
SA rugby is going down the tubes it appears and needs a Trump to pull things right. 
Are we going to reach a point where our teams are the whipping boys. Certainly the queens will be. 

 Beeno
Because I do not agree with the political and religious issues you raised on this site - you are getting noxious and personal.