Allister Coetzee has reiterated that the Boks will embrace a pragmatic brand of ‘winning rugby’ first and foremost this season.
The Boks lost eight Tests out of 12 last year, and often seemed caught between styles of play, while a number of questionable selections adding to a clear lack of direction.
Although the Boks’ shock 33% win record from last year threw Coetzee’s future into jeopardy, SA Rugby recently announced that they would continue to back the Bok coach, who told SuperSport.com he’d learned that winning is all that matters.
‘You can never learn if you only win, so if we don’t learn from our situation last year, it will never be good enough. When we started against Ireland and we started with a group of players and we lost the first game, it was a massive disappointment – how could a South African team lose to the Irish on South African soil?
‘That expectation was enormous. I know with the Boks it is a massive team, but when the Irish beat New Zealand we suddenly realised the Irish could play. What I’ve learned is that every test match is really so vital to win, doesn’t matter who you play.
‘We won’t underestimate any nation, but we have to deal with expectation, whether there are young players in the mix, we have to make sure we are 100% prepared for every game, test match rugby is about winning.
‘It is not about entertaining, it is about winning. This is the view that I have, the philosophy that I have and it will stay like that.’
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Coetzee said he had been encouraged by the ball-in-hand brand of rugby that most SA Super Rugby teams were embracing this season, but emphasised that the balance had to be spot on at Test level.
‘But in Test match rugby there has to be the right mix, because if you look at the scores, the balance sheet must be good. As much as we can attack, we should be able to defend. You cant win 70-40, you win 28-10 or whatever – we have to make sure the balance sheet is right.
‘At Test match level it is not as if you just simply dominate the set piece and you get the ball all the time, you will have to work just as hard without the ball. That is what I can say, when we go out there we will leave nothing on the field, we will give everything.’
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Photo: Wessel Oosthuizen/Gallo Images
