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Cape Town - Allister Coetzee believes a win over Wales could be the catalyst to turn his horrendous tenure as Springbok coach around.
Coetzee’s Springboks suffered more humiliation this past weekend as they went down 20-18 to Italy in Florence.
It was their first ever loss to the Italians, who were ranked 13th in the world heading into the Test.
Under Coetzee’s tutelage in 2016, the Boks have lost seven of 11 Tests. It has included a first ever loss to Ireland on home soil, losing away to Argentina and getting pummelled by a record 57-15 scoreline at home against the All Blacks.
But Coetzee believes he is on the right track with the Boks.
“In the short term South African rugby is in pain but I think it will have long-term benefits for our game,” Coetzee told The Guardian. “We have regressed and at times we have tried to blast over the cracks but as South Africans we can see the system is not working. If we do not address that collectively, we will be in a worse position; there will be discussions about administration, coaching, players, the whole lot.”
Coetzee also highlighted what he feels to be a major current stumbling block.
“A big problem for us is conditioning with several of our squad based overseas,” he said. “Their season does not finish until June and we are in the middle of ours when they join up. I would love to keep more players in South Africa because the position is crazy but we cannot control the euro and the yen. We are in discussions about formulating a policy and I have a good idea of what should happen, sooner rather than later. I will be meeting the Super Rugby coaches next month and players will know where they stand.”
