South Africa coach Allister Coetzee has been sacked after a tumultuous two years in charge of the Springboks.
His departure came just days after the leaking of an explosive letter in which Coetzee accused SA Rugby of setting him up to fail.
“First and foremost we had to assess what is in the best interests of the Springboks,” said Jurie Roux, the chief executive officer of SA Rugby.
“We’d like to thank Allister for his passion and dedication to the Springbok cause and wish him every success in his next role.”
Rassie Erasmus, recently appointed as SA Rugby’s director of rugby, is expected to take over the job later this month.
Coetzee took over from Heyneke Meyer following a third-place finish for the Boks at the 2015 World Cup in England, but won just 11 of his 25 matches in charge.
His tenure included a first-ever home loss to Ireland, a maiden defeat at the hands of Italy, a humiliating record 57-0 away thumping in New Zealand and their worst home loss when they were beaten 57-15 by the All Blacks in 2016.
Coetzee’s first year in charge was also the worst in Springbok history as they won only four of their 12 Tests.
But he believes South African Rugby put impediments in his path to success and that essentially he was doomed to fail from the moment he took over.
“I was the most successful Super Rugby coach at the time of my appointment and was requested to return to Springbok rugby from Japan because my country needed me,” Coetzee wrote in a letter to SA Rugby that was leaked to the media last week.
“My treatment since my return suggested that elements in SARU (SA Rugby) embarked on a deliberate attempt to undermine me from the word go and to create the public impression of incompetence on my part whilst wilfully obstructing my efforts to be successful.”
Coetzee was reportedly unhappy that he was not allowed to select his own backroom staff and that SA Rugby instituted a ban on the selection of overseas-based players who had not featured in more than 30 caps for the Springboks.
The new coach’s first matches in charge will be a three-Test home series against England in June.
George
Guest
Eddie Jones the sly fox will be a handful, Rassie doesnt have much time. Already 2 years wasted. Boks forwards are a cohesive unit, the backs are a shambles.
Suzy Poison
Guest
Don't slam the door on the way out, Alistair! Despite that I will be shocked if the Boks beat England in June.
Cadfael
Roar Guru
Agree totally with having a selection committee.
Wobblies
Guest
Cheika's record is much better?
DavSA
Guest
He has cost SA Rugby a ton of money that they cannot afford. SARU has a national and moral obligation to develop rugby especially in under developed areas and that is an expensive exercise. Money cannot be squandered like this. Coetzee should not be alone in getting the chop and the entire process from his appointment to non-performance clauses being absent in his contract should be the subject of a formal enquiry and all those responsible should be held accountable. Hundreds of thousands of rugby players across SA are all doing their bit to keep rugby great . Long suffering supporters who have shown unbelievable loyalty to their favorite teams deserve better.
Fionn
Guest
Yeah, could be a rough RC for the Wallabies. I don't know if the Boks can beat England in a series (but if they could wouldn't it be great for confidence) but hopefully they peak by the RC.
Jacko
Guest
Its about time....I dont get how he lasted this long.....Mind you the letter was probably not too far from the truth.....Its not good to watch SARU self destruct and hopefully they can start to get back to the power they once were...Playing England in June will be quite telling and a very tough assignment
ThugbyFan
Guest
Hi Rebellion. And remember coach Chieka also played a way-over-the-hill hooker as starter in the WB last match. That went down well, what was the score again? Even worse, the up and coming "next gun" hooker Jordan Uelese did not get one minute of game time on the EOYT. What an abomination of forward planning!
Rebellion
Guest
Poor Allister needs to ditch the delusional point of view and accept he clearly wasn’t the best man for the job Raelene Castle should take the same approach and appoint a third party selection panel with Boy Blu Chieka relieved of his duties in that respect. People thought PDV was a lunatic for playing a way-over-the-hill John Smit as starting hooker over Bismarck when ChiekTah is running out about 5 or 6 of his favourites uncontested (including a scrum half with an awful pass and a number 6 who can’t even clean out) !