It hasn’t been made official just yet, but over the weekend we learnt that Allister Coetzee will be getting sacked very shortly.

We didn’t learn about this via a statement from SA Rugby, because that would require some form of competence from the people who run rugby in this country.

Instead, we learnt of Coetzee’s sacking via a leaked letter he himself wrote to CEO Jurie Roux, in which he went off on what can politely be described as a massive whine.

Woe is me, he cried, ignoring a track record so terrible it doesn’t bear repeating. Instead, he placed the blame on just about anything and everyone other than himself.

Here are some of his gripes, covered on Times LIVE. He alleges that:

• He was told his contract would be terminated.
• Current Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus will coach the Springboks in 2018.
• He was offered a ‘ceremonial’ role as Bok coach with Erasmus actually in charge‚ which he claimed would infringe his rights to “dignity” and equality.

Ha, dignity.

Allister and Jurie Roux met on January 18, which is when he was told about his impending sacking.

He wasn’t done, though, because he had plenty more to moan about in the letter to Roux:

[He] also indicated that he believed he was set up to fail as Springbok coach‚ listing complaints about lack of planning‚ no camps‚ 257 SA players based overseas and a host of other challenges.

“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 said.

“My treatment since my return suggested that elements in SARU 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.

“I will not allow elements in SARU to wilfully destroy me and render me unemployable as was done to Peter De Villiers.

“I am not interested in money and that I will fight to protect my hard-earned reputation which is in the process of being deliberately soiled publicly by elements within SARU.”

You know what renders someone unemployable? A win record of 44%, and losses that regularly ranked amongst our worst in history.

Also, Allister is going to walk away with a fat payday off the back of being booted, so don’t worry about that.

Over on Sport24 Mark Keohane wasn’t buying it, penning a column titled “Shocking results, not race behind Coetzee’s axing”.

Shall we?

In 2017 he got the support staff he wanted; he got the training camps he wanted; he got all the external support he needed; he was given and afforded every opportunity to create an environment in which to succeed. His team failed the big Tests – and failed them big…

What is obvious though is that Coetzee will not work with Erasmus and post his emotional and vitriolic rant to Roux (by a legally drafted letter) there is no way Erasmus will work with Coetzee. The relationship between Roux and Coetzee is also non-existent and the refusal of Coetzee to front any form of responsibility for having the worst Springbok coaching record (for coaches with 10-plus Tests) makes it impossible for him to continue in any capacity within South African rugby’s national structures…

He will be fired – and rightly so – because of performance. It has nothing to do with culture, colour or his drink of choice.

The South African Rugby Union will in all probability cough up more than they should once the labour law legalities come into play, but every extra cent spent on getting him as far away from the Springboks in 2018 will be well spent.

This week’s announcement that Coetzee is out and Erasmus is in as Springbok coach can’t come soon enough.

Yeah, not a moment too soon.

It’s just a pity that almost every South African coach ends up leaving on bad terms with SA Rugby, meaning that most of their inside knowledge and know-how waltzes out the door with them.

I’m pretty sure no real Bok supporter will be sad to see Coetzee go, but this trend does point to a rather toxic environment at SA Rugby headquarters.

Then again, winning breeds confidence, and the national team hasn’t exactly delivered on that front.

Cheers Toetie, we’ll just have to soldier on without you.

[sources:sport24&timeslive]