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Has time run out for Allister Coetzee?

27th November, 2016
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Allister Coetzee's games haven't gone to plan so far. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
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27th November, 2016
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Allister Coetzee has been coach of the South African rugby side for barely six months, but his job is already heavily under fire after the worst year in Springboks history. Is he already a lost cause?

Another loss to end the year against Wales this morning was the final nail in a horror debut season of a coffin for Coetzee, racking up the eighth loss of the year for the Proteas, more losses than any other year in a storied rugby history for the nation.

Wales were right on top of the contest throughout the whole game and dominated possession and field position for the most part.

It was all three-pointers in the opening 40 minutes as Leigh Halfpenny and Elton Jantjies traded penalty goals in the first half.

The Welsh took a six-point lead into the break and had all the momentum on their side.

Ken Owens crashed over on the rolling maul early in the second half after the Springboks were reduced to ten men thanks to a Faf de Klerk intentional knock on.

South Africa tried to stay in the fight, even crossing the line for their only try of the game late in the final ten minutes, but man-of-the-match Justin Tipuric would seal the game for Wales with a breakaway try late in the piece.

The 27-13 defeat was only their third defeat against the Welsh, but that’s not the worst of it for Coetzee.

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South Africa suffered their first ever loss to Italy just one week prior in one of the biggest upsets in recent memory, especially after New Zealand had piled on over 60 points against the same team the week before that.

All the wash-up from Ireland vs Wallabies:
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» Re-live the match with our live blog
» WATCH all the highlights from the match

SA Rugby president Mark Alexander was quick to put Coetzee on notice after the Italy loss, releasing a statement on the Boks performance.

“The whole of South African rugby is extremely disappointed with this year’s Springbok results and deeply worrying aspects of the performances,” he said.

“It has not been good enough and no one is pretending otherwise.”

Under Coetzee in the last six months the Springboks have also been handed their first Test defeat against England in a decade and their first ever loss to Argentina on the road.

Plus, a record margin conceded against New Zealand in the last round of the Rugby Championship earlier in the season and a first ever home defeat against Ireland.

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It’s been a tumultuous start to his coaching career to say the least and many were calling for his head after just a couple of losses.

But now, with a record of eight losses from 12 games, is it too far gone to give him another chance?

Following the departure of Heyneke Meyer from the top job after the World Cup this time last year, the idea was for Coetzee to work the next Cup cycle and take the Boks through to the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

He’s been very successful in Super Rugby in the past with the Stormers and was touted as the obvious choice for the national job, but those same supporters have been very quick to turn.

The Proteas are certainly reeling on the back foot after a shocker of a campaign in 2016, and all fingers point towards the head coach.

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