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Sport24 readers call for Coetzee, Jantjies to fall

Cape Town - At heart, we're all Springbok coaches and selectors. 

It is therefore no great surprise that, in the midst of what is looking increasingly like a Springbok crisis, we all have a lot to say when it comes to finding a way to get the 'Green and Gold' back on the winning track. 

Following Saturday's 41-13 loss to the All Blacks in Christchurch, we at Sport24 asked our readers to respond and share their views on what was going wrong at the Boks. 

The question was simple: "Whose head would you like to see roll first?"

This came in response to Bok coach Allister Coetzee suggesting that he had some "tough decisions" to make upon his return to South Africa and that there could be some changes in personnel

The response was overwhelming, with literally hundreds of emails highlighting the frustration that Bok supporters are currently feeling. 

Opinions varied greatly, but the individuals who were targeted most by readers were Coetzee himself and struggling flyhalf, Elton Jantjies.

Here, we have included some of the more readable (there were some shockers) responses!

"Definitely Jantjies, Faf, De Allende can be dropped." - Etienne Pienaar

"The first head to roll is Allister Coetzee's and next the support coaches. As WP coach, for many years on end, he could NEVER lead his team to win a Super Rugby trophy, what makes them think he can win a world cup???" - Mauritz Swanepoel

"Coetzee of course." - Ryan Cronje

"How about Allister Coetzee to go first??" - Heine Venter

"My answer is Allister Coetzee. Rugby is a professional sport and deserves a professional coach  at the helm." - Ivan van Vuuren

"Elton Jantjies first. He does not have it at that level." - Anonymous 

"Definitely Jantjies should go. He's making too many mistakes." - Hannelie Hull

"Allister Coetzee." - Louis Steyn

"Yes heads must roll. It's not all the fault of the players.  The side is not fit enough or fast enough, never mind good enough!  They are playing 1970's style rugby while all other sides have moved on.  They are poorly lead as shown by the fact that they are incapable of changing their game plan in mid game when things aren't working out.  The Boks have completely missed the idea of side stepping and missing the opposition tackler and still try to run over people. They are also selfish near the try line in trying to be solo heroes rather than being patient and building a group effort!" - Bob Winfield

"Van Graan, Zwandile Stick are not qualified for the job ... employ professional coaches please." - Savvas Damianou 

"Jantjies and Faf should go. Kriel at Fullback and De Jongh or De Allende at inside centre. Give Goosen a go at flyhalf, he was pretty good against Australia a few years ago. Mapoe outside centre. Give Hougaard a shot at scrumhalf he kicks pretty damn well nowadays." - Dirk Jacobs

"The selector/s should be fired. Defence and attack coach should be axed also. Beast needs a long rest. Stop playing with versatile players in many position and have specialists." - R.N Phefo 

"The first guy to go must be Jantjies! He is the most overrated player I have ever come across!! Even at Super Rugby level he is too inconsistent and definitely can’t handle pressure. He has been a complete failure at Bok level. I would play Goosen at fly half and put Jessie Kriel at full back!!" - Ivor Williams

"Both assistant coaches must go ... get Ackermann and his assistants to help Coetzee." - Kobus Steyn

"Allister Coetzee." - David Andrews

"To me, it's an absolute no-brainer that many of the older guys need to go! Although one needs to consider the whole aspect of "experience" versus "youth", the fact of the matter is that many of the experienced guys simply are not performing, and therefore younger players who are currently (arguably) of equal ability ought to be given the nod!

Players who should be given the chop are: The Beast, Bryan Habana, Morne Steyn, Francois Louw, Juan de Jongh, Adriaan Strauss!!!!! Players who ought to be either promoted to the starting XV, or into the squad are: Malcolm Marx, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Jamba Ulengo, Steven Kitshoff, Thomas du Toit, Jaco Kriel, Curwin Bosch," - Steve Smith

"Firstly I feel that Alistair Coetzee needs to let go of Zwandile Stick, he never played for the Springboks & he got promoted from coaching the EP Kings to coaching the Springbok back line. This indicated lack of experience & lack of confidence which clearly can be seen in how our Springbok backline is currently performing." - Juan Moodley

"Start with the defence coach. Then follow with the old guns. Habana, Hougaard and Beast which he is no longer. Bring in Lambie, Ox Ntshe, Senatla to mention a few." - George Jacobs

"Elton Jantjies needs to be put on the bench and to be used for the second half. This will help him mentally adjust to international tests. The All Blacks used Beauden Barrett as their 60th Minute impact player and he didn’t disappoint. He worked out a few kinks and got his confidence through player in those last minutes with the senior player. Unfortunately we didn’t use Elton Jantjies last year in the world cup. It would’ve been the best way for him to be exposed to international Rugby in that way." - Bradley Leibrandt

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