The guys at the South African Rugby Union (Saru) should really up their game.
What was supposed to be a general review of the national team and its coaches is now becoming a frustration for all involved. And for this particular scribe.
Rumour has it that Franco Smith is set to join the national team’s coaching staff.
Mense, it’s almost time for the Super Rugby season to kick off and if this is the case, where does it leave the Cheetahs?
Smith is currently the head coach of the franchise and if Saru wish to replace backline boss Mzwandile Stick with him, does that mean there will be a new man in Bloemfontein?
Os du Randt recently returned from Japan and being big in the Free State, this might be an option for the franchise.
But it’s exactly this sort of thing that will have unions and franchises up in arms.
If the guys at the top can’t sort out their s***, it will filter down.
Anyway, back to the national team.
For now it looks like Allister Coetzee will be safe.
So if Stick is the one to shoulder the blame for what transpired in 2016, what will happen to him?
Wouldn’t he have been better off had he stayed at the Kings last year?
Then there is team doctor Jerome Mampane.
Apparently Konrad van Hagen, current Kings doctor, will replace Mampane and this will now red the Boks’ poor on-field displays.
It just feels like the guys at the top are looking at too many quick fixes.
The problem with this team is deep-rooted. It’s just that they don’t know exactly what the problem is.
Instead of being allowed to prep for the new season, watch rugby games from across the globe to pick up on changing trends, Coetzee and his staffers spent their off-season worrying about their jobs.
Yes, Mark Alexander was only appointed as the new president last year and a nuwe besem vee skoon.
But what they need to realise is that this Bok coaching staff was also only appointed last year and chopping and changing on an annual basis will leave you starting from scratch all the time.
I’ve been quite vocal on the Sevens example in the past.
The way things are run over there should be used as a template by the Boks.
Yes, it is easier when you have guys contracted to the national team and put together in Stellenbosch.
Unity, no egos and a will to fight for the team are among the elements to the Blitzbokke’s recent success.
The blame game is not part of their ammo, you never hear issues regarding quotas coming out of the camp, they have prepared accordingly and let the process run its course.
Maybe the Boks, from top to bottom, should start looking past our differences and realise there’s only one goal – to be the best in the world again.