GROWN IN STATURE
Whiteley is best choice for Bok No8, says Coetzee
Allister Coetzee loosely admitted wisdom comes with age, but he stopped short of conceding that as Springbok coach, he has wasted a year in delaying Warren Whiteley’s appointment as team captain
Allister Coetzee loosely admitted wisdom comes with age, but he stopped short of conceding that as Springbok coach, he has wasted a year in delaying Warren Whiteley’s appointment as team captain. Coetzee and the wider rugby public will never know whether the Springboks’ annus horribilis, 2016, might have taken a different trajectory with Whiteley at the helm. The 29-year-old was installed as the 58th Springbok captain on Tuesday and will hold the reins in 2017 as Coetzee hopes to establish stability in his squad. Despite Whiteley captaining the Golden Lions to the Currie Cup crown in 2015 and the Lions to the Super Rugby final in 2016‚ Coetzee overlooked his credentials, opting instead for Adriaan Strauss last season. It was argued Coetzee could not guarantee Whiteley a place in his starting line-up ahead of Duane Vermeulen. A year on and Strauss has stepped aside‚ Vermeulen is still running into‚ and occasionally through, brick walls for Toulon in the south of France‚ but most impo...
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