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CAPE TOWN. — Following the 2015 Rugby World Cup, there was a general acceptance that the Springboks needed to evolve.

Under the tutelage of the passionate Heyneke Meyer, South Africa bashed and kicked their way to a third-place finish at the tournament and came close — on the scoreboard, anyway — to knocking over the All Blacks in the semi- final.

But the reality is that the All Blacks and the Springboks were in different leagues at that competition, and with the rest of the world (even Scotland) having demonstrated a willingness to play more ball-in-hand rugby, the Boks looked somewhat prehistoric.

Allister Coetzee is aware of that, and he has spent the past weeks meeting with all six of South Africa’s Super Rugby franchises in an attempt to get everyone on the same page in terms of what the new philosophy will be. — AFP.