The worst Coaches of the Springboks during the professional era

The following coaches were involved in the coaching of the Sprinbok team during the professional era - please note that Christie was not involved during the professional era and is left out.
Carel du Plessis     -  7,5/10Nick Mallett          -    7/10Jake White           - 6,5/10
Harry Viljoen         - 4,5/10Rudolph Straeuli    -  4,5/10Pieter de Villiers     -   4/10
Heyneke Meyer     -  3,5/10


The reasoin I rated Du Plessis so highly is that he stated clearly that the Springbok rugby is the pits because of their inability to score tries.   He made some drastic changes to the way the team was selected and he tried to get the Springbok team to adjust their playing style.  Although there was some hiccups the end result was tops -
  *   The Springboks beating the Wallabies and the British and Irish Lions by the biggest margins ever by a Springboks team (a record since not broken); and  *   When he was wrongly terminated - Mallett made minimal changes to the squad developed by Du Plessis and started a strong of tests wins not equaled by any othe coach - however, Mallett went of the rails when he started to try and make changes to the team.  *   White gets a relatively high rating despite the fact that he himself was clueless about backline play - but he showed some insight when he got Eddie Jones on board, which was of massive help in the 2007 RWC *    The team was run by the senior players who decided on everyting during the De Villiers - while he mumbled along cluelessly talking tripe constantly*     Meyer was the pits - the coach when the Boks got beaten by Japan and Argentina - going at one stage down to the 6th rated team in World rugby.   Totally deluded selections based on reputation without regard to performance and a game plan that was absolute crap.
I am afraid Carel du Plessis was ten years ahead of the SA views of that era and never got a proper chance to really change the absolute rubbish regularly dished up as rugby through the years.   It is that kind of foresight that went missing since his very short term as coach and the level of coaching came down by leaps and bounds over the past 15 years.      

 CM u left out Mozzie.

 AJ
I am afraid I do not go for people with rugby views firmly cemented in the 19th century.  

 mike spot on with your ratings.
carel du plessis was cutted way to early in my view but the boks looked a real threat on attack.
carel is one of the few local coaches that really understands the fundamentals of attack and his last game we put over 50 odd over the wallies in pta if i can recall.
its baffles the mind that he has not been approached to get back into the game.
along with him alan zondagh and off the mercurial chean rouw na hawies fourie we have some great coaching talent being wasted. 
carel was the real brains behind mallet's team....much like jones was the brains behind whites team

CM 
I don't think Carel wanted to get involved with the dirty mess made by the coaches from 2000 onwards.   He was for a while the backline coach while Smal was the coach of the Stormers and when Smal left - he left as well.
What is clear is that since Du Plessis our coaching of backline players has been in dire straights - the only brief exception was in 2007, when Eddie Jones was brought on board.  
Can you imagine an ignoramus like Loubscher being the Springbok backline coach - with Van Graan being the attack coach.  The latter was better than the Bulls with Matfield as their attack coach.  It shows what Meyer really thought about the issue of ba ckline play - it never was a consideration on his part at all.    
     

Mike I understand that you are trying to illustrate just how badly you rate Meyer, but damn man! Strauli, Viljoen and PDV were all easily worse!

 The 2 best coaches in pro-era were Ian Mac and Kitch Christie by a country mile.

Ian Mac wasn't given enough time by that impatient megalomaniac entrepreneur LL...he laid good foundations however....that is Ian Mac and the great Kitch finished the job...sadly Kitch's health and his death left a huge void in good coaching and we are still struggling with it.

The worst coach has to be Peter. Recount the 2011 Tri Nations: Two tries, each by a hooker. Had to have an emergency coaching clinic to prep the team for the World Cup and the duo of Rassie and Nienaber drastically improved the team. Peter also threw his assistance under the bus on the 2010 EOYT when advertising for replacements. Was a racist and fool who routinely embarrassed himself and the nation. His understanding of the game was probably equal to most South African "fans", which was the most disturbing thing of all. He spoke of the game the same way the fans do; a way which Eddie Jones said could only be played on the moon, but not played anywhere on Earth, such was it's ridiculousness. I even recall in 2010's Tri Nations how he questionably used a compressed defensive line with Jean on the wing. A system which protects the inside and encourages the attackers to go wide. New Zealand did that all day and not once did Peter have the foresight to adjust, or see that it was being shredded. His attacking game of 2008 was the highlight of his tenure yet it was moronic in execution. All runners and ball-carriers and no defined approach at the breakdown? Cleaned out all season on the deck. A weak leader, and below average intellect. But the part that irks me most is that he forces me to credit Dumtree in the Lions tour. It was Dum who pointed out Brussow and who was called in for an emergency consultancy role after the Boks near loss to Namibia and rectified the breakdown. Peter was resistant to changes and only through injury did we see positive turnarounds. I could go through each game and tear Peter apart but I haven't the enthusiasm for it. 1/10

Mallett was good initially. But as the game changed he was found more and more wanting. His attempt to get the Boks playing a modern style of rugby in line with the shift of 1999 was an abject failure. Still he was better than Viljoen or Straeuli. I would give Mallett a 6/10.

Jake was the first international coach to use the blitz defence and took the Boks from  a 5th place team humiliated in a blowout loss to New Zealand in a World Cup to Tri Nations champions in a less than a year. By 2005's TNs we were second in the world and competing strongly with New Zealand. In actual fact, merely a couple of minutes is what kept the Boks from two years unbeaten by New Zealand! And of course he is the last coach to achieve a blowout win over New Zealand. How often have we achieved that? He an iffy year in 2006, which was the only real blemish to his recoord, but it was a growing year as a result of it. Here were some of those injuries: Schalk Burger (broken neck), Bakkies Botha (calf surgery), Jean De Villiers (cracked rib), Bryan Habana (cracked rib), Butch James (groin and knee), André Pretorius (groin), Joe Van Niekerk (C5 & C6 vertebrae), Jacques Cronje (cracked rib), Danie Rossouw (hamstring), Juan Smith (left quadriceps), Eddie Andrews (back), BJ Botha (back surgery), CJ Van Der Linde (Leg), Gurthro Steenkamp (broken hand), Pedrie Wannenburg (wrist surgery), Marius Joubert (fractured hand) amongst other lesser injuries stretched the Bok's depth to its limit. These things, along with our scant depth and intense political pressure - the worst any coach had dealt with until present day - and the fact he couldn't select his assistants or have final say on selection. The fact that he had the most stinging media attacks of any Bok coach in SA rugby history and still come out on top leaves me to rate him 8/10.

Meyer has kept the weakest Bok squad since 2001-2003 highly competitive for four straight years. We have been #2 in the world for most of his tenure and been the only team throughout that time who have been able to compete with New Zealand. Of all the Bok coaches that have been Meyer is the most versatile and forward thinking, the level of detail and application of his strategy with each personnel change has been remarkable to say the least. In every way he has kept this Bok team overachieving. His only let down was that he felt the pressure too much and gave in to "fans", we lost considerable momentum on the last EOYT as result of fan favourites in particular. Where Jake had the guts to stick to his guns Meyer buckled. And injuries severely impaired our World Cup charges. But still, with no centres he managed to take the eventual World Champions close, making them look ordinary and devoid of ideas for long stretches. Meyer certainly isn't perfect, but he is the best South African coach by a very long way. Had he shown more guts to stick to what he knows best I would have rated him higher, 7/10.

Straeuli's Boks were very tough and physical, but the most blunt Bok side there has ever been. Absolutely no attacking threat whatsoever and this left them team having to soak up huge amounts of pressure. Straeuli had a view of rugby that was outdated and couldn't spot talent to save his life. He had a warped view of masculinity and instilled a violent component to the Bok psyche, one which sullied our reputation for a very long time. It took a great number of years to get past 2002 alone. For his inability to put the right mix of players together, inability to formulate an appropriate blueprint and for tarnishing the Bok brand I rate him 1/10. he took the Boks a very long way backwards and severely damaged Bok rugby on and off the field in ways even Peter couldn't do.

Viljoen. Another proponent of the "fans" idiot running game. Was made to look a complete and total fool. Not as bad as Straeuli but still poor. 4/10.

 Well l said, BB.

 DF
When I start reading your drivel I thought you had no idea why the Springboks have been going backwards rather than forwards in rugby.  We had a major low this year when at one stage we were rated 6th in world rugby.
Meyer is anything but what you said.  he is not forward-looking rather backwards-looking.  He has retained some of the most worthless players wearing the Springbok jersey in the team and his team selection was not based on performance - but on reputation - and example of his constant harking back to the past.  What you said about Straeuli is exactly what applies to Meyer and even worse so.   
Straueli at least has a game plan - Meyer has none that is ever constant or applicable.   If there is one coach without any attacking plan whatsoever it is Meyer.   This was clearly shown up in the play-offs in the WC.       

 PDV would be the best coach in the last 8 years or so wouldnt he ?

Not sure of precise date of professionalism...

1 994
Dr Louis Luyt became the new president of SARFU.
The Springboks toured New Zealand, losing the series 2-0 with the third test drawn.
There was much controversy surrounding the tour - the sending home of prop Johan le Roux for biting Sean Fitzpatrick's ear, the sacking of the coach Ian McIntosh and an attempt to sack the manager, Jannie Engelbrecht as well.
Kitch Christie replaced Ian McIntosh as the Springbok coach and began an unbeaten sequence of 14 tests with two home victories against Argentina and then away wins against Wales and Scotland.
The South African Under 19 team went to the FIRA International Tournament for the first time and, captained by Corné Krige, won the tournament, beating Italy in the final.
The South African Sevens team again reached the quarter-finals of the Hong Kong Sevens.
Natal lost to Queensland in the Final of the Super 10. Transvaal won the Currie Cup.

1995:
1995 was a most momentous year in the history of rugby football as the game decided in Paris that it would cease to be "amateur" and become officially professional, a concept embraced in all major countries bar Argentina.

as a kiwi i think i have a more unbiased perspective of the worst coaches in the professional era, cos regardless of what any think about how i view or feel about the Boks, i really am neutral in all their affairs.

PDV does not deserve a 4/10 in mikey assessment, which is only .5 higher than what meyer got who was the worst coach and i will explain why.

PDV delivered far more than any other Bok coach in the professional era.
mikey has stated that it was the players who ran the Boks and not PDV, a sentiment ive read many times before from others here, but the thing with that is, theres no concrete proof of that being fact.

under PDV here is a list of his achievements
- won the 09 lion series -
the only Bok coach to do this in the pro era.

mallet is the only other coach who had a chance in 97, but he failed losing the series 2-1

- won the 09 trinats -
PDV became the thrid coach to win the TriNats.

the only other coaches to win the the TriNats in the pro era are nick mallet in 98 and jake white in 04.
what makes PDVs TriNat win standout over both mallets and especially whites, is the fact that mallets and whites TriNats was one of those 2 tests vs All Blacks and two tests vs wallabies scenario.
PDV 09 TriNats was won in a 6 test series, playing the wallys and ABs three times each.

also jake whites TriNats win was won thanks to bonus points as all three TriNat teams that year finished the series with a win loss record of 2 wins and 2 losses each.

- whitewashed the All Blacks -
PDV whitewashed the All Blacks 3 nil in 09.
mallet also white washed the All Blacks in 98, but did so in only two tests making PDVs more impressive.

- beat the All Blacks in NZ -
in the professional era, the Boks have beaten the All Blacks in NZ three times.
PDV was coaching the Boks for two of those tests, mallet coached the other.


conclusion
every Bok coach has had low times to accompany their coaching tenure, some more than others (cough cough meyer). and while PDV is not exempt he has a record that no other Bok coach in the pro era can honestly match.

jake whites saving grace is the RWC* and while i think the RWC is overrated, i bow to the general consensus and acknowledge it as the be all end all of rugby.
so on that note, jake white must be acknowledged as the Boks best coach in the pro era.
but PDV is the 2nd best coach in the pro era, not the 2nd worst. records and series wins dont lie, and PDVs is clearly superior to anyone else.

* this little thing is note stating that jake whites RWC win is one of two RWC wins which IMO is the easiest RWC wins in RWC history, the other being the All Blacks 87 win.
the SANZAR nations have dominated the rugby world for long periods of times. so anytime a nation can win the RWC without having to face the All Blacks, the Boks or the wallabies, it is the equivalent of winning the RWC trifecta.
while this dosent tarnish the win, it is impossible to deny that it is a much easier way to win a RWC.

 "jake whites saving grace is the RWC" - yes, plus White taking a no name team like the Brumbies in one season to a semi final S15 contender.

@ blikkies,

" "jake whites saving grace is the RWC" - yes, plus White taking a no name team like the Brumbies in one season to a semi final S15 contender."

3 points of order

1) that literally has nothing to do with how a person performed as Bok coach.

2) the only person who would call the brumbies a no name team, is person who knows nothing about the brumbies roster before that date.

3) they were never semi final contenders in one season. they were qualifying finals contenders in one season.
and please stop applauding mediocrity, cos

 There you go then ,with Naruto Uzimaki backing me ya'll can respect mah authoritah RE: Pdivvy !

 Seb
I wrote about the professional era - Ian Mac and Christie coached before that era.  Professional rugby was only reluctantly introduced by Louis Luyt in 1996 after threats by the players .    

 The following is a fairy tale of immense proportions. 
"Meyer has kept the weakest Bok squad since 2001-2003 highly competitive for four straight years. We have been #2 in the world for most of his tenure and been the only team throughout that time who have been able to compete with New Zealand. Of all the Bok coaches that have been Meyer is the most versatile and forward thinking, the level of detail and application of his strategy with each personnel change has been remarkable to say the least. In every way he has kept this Bok team overachieving. His only let down was that he felt the pressure too much and gave in to "fans", we lost considerable momentum on the last EOYT as result of fan favourites in particular. Where Jake had the guts to stick to his guns Meyer buckled. And injuries severely impaired our World Cup charges. But still, with no centres he managed to take the eventual World Champions close, making them look ordinary and devoid of ideas for long stretches. Meyer certainly isn't perfect, but he is the best South African coach by a very long way. Had he shown more guts to stick to what he knows best I would have rated him higher, 7/10.
 he listed the unworkable strategy of De Villiers in detail - yet he never mentioned the unworkable strategy of Meyer in the WC play-offs.  He talked about forward-looking by Meyer when in fact all he did was always backward-looking.  Looking at reputation players and a strategy used by the Bulls in 2002 was the strategy used in 2015 in the WC.  He obviously did not mention the losses against Japan and Argentina and the fact that the Springboks got the lowest ranking ever in World rugby under Meyer.  The year since September 2014 was an atrocious record of losing tests.   
The comments on the centers is as deluded as DF always is.  The centers were never given any proper balls during that game to play with - Meyer's plan negated their presence in the team to defense only.  The other centers used by Meyer was evern worse - the pits being Fransie Steyn and Juan de Jongh - showing that Meyer had no idea of backline play whatsoever.   That in itself shows that he missed out on 50% of what is required from a coach.   the other 15% relates to stupid forward selection and the usage of players like Alberts, Matfield and co.
The worst coach we had for the past 20 years by some distance.   3,5/10 is a liberal allocation - it should be worse.         

      

In South Africa we have 3 types of coaches.
1. Coaches that understand forward play 2. Coaches that do not understand backline play 3. Coaches that understand neither. 

Unfortunately we have too many that fall into category 2 and 3. 
We need to have more SuperXV coaches that were Springbok backline players. 
Not promoting them to to Springbok coaches until they can do score tries with their backline to win games.

 Nice categorization SB
Let me put the coaches in the three categories;-
Coaches who understood forward play
White, Straeuli, Mallett
Coaches who did not understand backline play
White, Straeuli, Mallett
Coaches who did not understand neither of the two
Viljoen, De Villiers, Meyer

Coaches are made by the squads they inherit.
Mallett inherited an 8 out of 10
Viljoen 5
Destroyli 5
Jake 4

PdV 9
HM 7
HMs successor 5
So if we rank coaches by the legacy they left their successors vs the legacy they inherited....the delta
Jake is a plus 5
Viljoen 0
Destroyli -1
PdV and HM  -2
Mallett -3
This is a little simplistic and not all on  the coach, there are good years and bad years for talent. But the fact is our talent pool never declined more than under Mallett and never expanded more than under Jake.




 

 What talent pool decline are you talking about - fa is that Meyer never really used the  talent pool available- he preferred to use has-beens and never-has-beens.
But the real assessment is not what they inherited or what they left their pre-decessor to inherit - it is how they manage to use their resources and develop players and the game that ultimately count.   No coach can be judged on what they inherit from their predecessors and what they leave their successors when they finish theior stint - they are to be judged on what they achieved.  
And the achievements of Meyer was really the pits.   Losing to Argentina and Japan - and losing game after game during the past 15 months taking the Springboks to  the 6th ranked team in world rugby - is a negative  achievement matched by none of the previous coaches in the professional era.
Meyer failed to adjust to the changing environment in world rugby - he never understood that the failed players of the 2011 WC will take us to the same conclusion in 2015.   
So irrespective as to all the talk about inheritance etc - the right thing to do is to determine what Meyer and other coaches achieved during the stint as coaches and the answer is preciously little in his case.