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Allister Coetzee

CAPE TOWN. — The message from Springbok coach Allister Coetzee was clear yesterday: South Africa needs a national rugby plan. A coaching Indaba is underway in Cape Town, where Brendan Venter will facilitate discussions as Coetzee seeks solutions for what he considers a major problem facing South African coaching structures.

It is largely to do with getting everybody on the same page.

Coaches and management from all six Super Rugby franchises are present at the Indaba, and Coetzee says one of the major problems facing South African rugby right now is that there is not enough collaboration between the national coaching team and the Super Rugby coaches.

When Coetzee was first unveiled as national coach in April, he began his tenure by visiting all six of the Super Rugby franchises and meeting with their coaching staff.

This Indaba is the next step.

“If my record was 9 from 9 it was still a necessity to be together in a format like this and make sure that we have a great reality check,” Coetzee said.

The Bok coach was brutal in his assessment of where South African rugby is currently.

“We are living in our own little thing where we are hoping and thumb-sucking that we are the best nation in world rugby,” he said.

“We’re not the top rugby nation, so how are we going to get to that?”

Coetzee said that, since 1995, there had been moments of isolated success but added that the South African game had not advanced.

He drew on the Rugby Championship and Super Rugby performances in the professional era, with South Africa having won those competitions just three times each.

“My question is: Have we embraced professionalism? That is the question we must ask ourselves,” Coetzee said.

Coetzee called for an alignment of the national coaching team and the Super Rugby franchises.

That would involve discussing world trends, strategies and philosophies that ultimately lead to an improvement in the national set-up.

It would not involve Coetzee instructing the franchises how he wanted them to play, but rather ensuring that Super Rugby players possess the skills to adapt to any game plan that is required of them, Coetzee said. — Sport24.