This is the toughest moment of my coaching career, says Coetzee
Allister Coetzee believes he still has the backing of his players after the Springboks slumped to a 20-18 defeat
Florence — A shell-shocked Allister Coetzee believes he still has the backing of his players after the Springboks slumped to a 20-18 defeat against Italy on Saturday. It was the Boks’ seventh loss in 11 Tests in 2016 and also the first time Italy have beaten the Springboks in 13 attempts. The defeat comes in a season when the Boks lost at home to Ireland for the first time‚ away to Argentina for a first time and endured a record 57-15 home defeat against the All Blacks. It’s hard to imagine what more Coetzee could do to force SA Rugby to cut their losses‚ but the mother body issued a hasty statement after the match explaining a full review would take place after next week’s Test against Wales. But that is standard procedure. It’s almost unprecedented for SA Rugby to make such a statement and the fact that it didn’t unequivocally back the coach and his staff‚ was telling. Coetzee‚ when asked directly if he would resign‚ was evasive. "My future is out of my hands but this was definite...
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