THE FINAL WHISTLE
MARK KEOHANE: Coetzee banks on local-based Boks to save face
There has been ongoing debate in the past few years about overseas-based Springboks’ influence
All the pressure is on Allister Coetzee’s Springboks to get a winning result in Saturday’s first Test against France — and rightly so. Coetzee’s Springboks lost seven of their last eight Tests in 2016 and the Bok coach surely knows that defeat against France would see him spoken of in the past tense as a Springbok coach. I can’t see it happening. At least, I would be stunned if the French, somehow, beat the Springboks in Pretoria. There has been ongoing debate in the past few years about overseas-based Springboks’ influence. I have always been of the view good enough should be good enough, regardless of the player’s age or where he is based. There has been strong opposition to this view, with most in SA saying any player who takes up an overseas club contract should be punished through non-selection for the Springboks. I have never agreed, but to those who vehemently dismiss the value of overseas-based players, the first Test against France will be significant because Coetzee, when ...
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