Cape Town - There are no hard feelings between SA Rugby and former Springbok coach Allister Coetzee.
This assurance was given by SA Rugby president Mark Alexander following the confirmation that the organisation and Coetzee had parted ways last Friday.
Before his dismissal, Coetzee expressed his unhappiness in a scathing e-mail to the rugby governing body but it seems it won’t be held against him.
“No-one at SA Rugby is angry at Allister. If a prospective employer contacts us, we’ll give him a good reference. At SA Rugby, we never give negative feedback about former Springbok coaches,” Alexander said in an interview with Netwerk24.
Meanwhile, the Afrikaans website also reported on Sunday that it cost SA Rugby R1.8 million to relieve Coetzee of his duties.
Having originally been appointed for a four-year contract, Coetzee's time at the helm lasted half of that - or 25 Tests in charge.
Of those 25 matches, the Boks won 11, lost 12 and drew 2, which translates into a 44% win-record.
That gives Coetzee the fourth worst record of the 12 national coaches who have taken up the role since readmission back in 1992.
READ: STATS: How Allister Coetzee's tenure stacks up
It also doesn't appear that Coetzee will be unemployed for long, with reports suggesting he'll be unveiled as Japanese club Canon Eagles' coach as early as this week.